Misty Montana Paths
by mountainman110
Summary: It's 1985. Much of the gang had gone different ways after a falling out between Hyde and Eric in 1982. Days later Eric left and much of the gang hasn't been in contact since. Thinking they are both going to not see another human in their soul searching adventures in Montana, two of the old gang will suddenly find their paths crossing in an unexpected way
1. Chapter 1: Getting Away

_It's 1985, Eric and the gang had gone their separate ways in 1982 after Eric and Hyde got into a heated argument. _

_Thinking they were going to have a quality alone time summer in the Mountains in Montana, saw a peaceful, solitude summer turn into anything but. And the gang remaining in Point Place would be none the wiser_

**Chapter 1: **

Denver, Colorado June,1985. 

Jackie sat in the backseat of a car looking down at her hands, as her girlfriends were babbling on about something in the front seat. 'Good God' she thought 'I am so glad those two are only driving me up here and not staying with me. I need some quality me time' she thought looking out the window. All she saw was the blurry landscape as her friends continued driving. 'Man, why did I ask them to drive me up there, it's a 14 hour trip' she thought, angry with herself for asking them. Jackie was headed up into the mountains of Montana to spend some quality alone time backpacking, camping, and canoeing. She had quit her job so she planned on staying in those mountains until she got tired of them. Jackie had been working for the Denver Broncos for 3 years as the PR agent. When time came for her promotion, she apologized to the owner, saying that she doesn't think there was much she could do for the team. The owner understood what was going on, and nodded 'You need some alone time to find out more about yourself" he said. "Why don't you take a break, we will mark you as quitting, but if you change your mind, the job is always here" He said shaking her hand. She couldn't be more excited to get away from the hustle and bustle, but knew she had to get out of Colorado. She had settled on Montana after reading articles about Montana wide open spaces and lack of peeps. Jackie then wondered what would happen if she fell in love with Montana, 'I could become a scary lumberjack' Jackie chuckled to herself as she began to fall asleep 'This is going to be the best trip ever' she smiled.

Townsend, MT June,1985. 

"All right, class dismissed" Eric began "Have a great summer. All I ask is that you don' t leave dog crap in my yard this year" he said. His high school class all chuckled when he said that, as many of them had heard about the dog crap filled yard from the summer before. Eric just wished they would all get out. He had already gotten all his grades turned in and watched the seniors graduate. Now he just wanted to get away. 'You know Mr. Forman' one of the students began 'The only reason we pick on you so much, is because you are single, and without us, you're life would have no unexpectedness' the student finished. Eric had to smile, strangely enough, the students were right. He was living in a very small town, with very few opportunities to meet single ladies. He would have to drive 30 minutes to Bozeman or Helena to actually be around in an area where more single woman were hanging around. 'Ok then, " Eric began 'I'll let you guys pull some pranks on me or my house, so long as they do not have any sort of risk of injury involved" she finished, smiling. "Ok then" the students all said seemingly excited. As they all exited, Eric just had to shake his head; he was taking off for the summer for some time to himself backpacking and all that in the hills and lakes. He planned to just get away and disappear into the mountains, not having to deal with other people and not even having to talk to anyone or anything. 'Ya' he thought 'just me and good old nature' he thought as he left the school that day.

Eric got home later that day, to a new message on the machine. Sighing he hit the play button. "Hey Eric, this Is Kelso Fez and Brooke man" the message began "WE just thought we would call you to see what's up, since we have seen you in like 3 years man." Kelso's message went on "So give me a call man, I can't wait to see you in the future" the message ended. 'How did those crazy guys get my number?' Eric thought to himself. Eric could not wait to get out of contact with everyone.

Point Place June 1985. 

"Any luck guys?" Hyde asked as Kelso, Fez and Brooke came out of the living room. "No we got the machine, again" Kelso said. Hyde was beginning to get worried about Eric. The last conversation he had with Eric, was about a month after Eric returned from Africa. Two days later, Eric had gotten an offer to work at a high school in Montana and left in the middle of the night, leaving the cruiser behind. "Hyde, man" Kelso began , "Eric didn't leave because of the fight, he left because he got a job offer he couldn't refuse. Eric is a teacher now. And being in Montana, there is much more involved in teaching than there is here" Kelso said, trying to reassure Hyde that Eric was fine. 'But we don't know that" Hyde said, taking off his sunglasses and sitting down in a chair at the kitchen table. "The last conversation pretty much ended with me telling him to get lost" Hyde said, guiltily looking down at his hands. " he hasn't returned our calls because of me" he finished. Hyde was disappointed because not only did he lose his closest friend, he also lost half the group because of how negative he had been treating Eric when he got back from Africa. The only people Eric stayed in contact with was Kitty and Kelso. Donna had left to California soon after graduation to attend school at USC and no one had heard from her since. Hyde couldn't help but feel he was the reason the gang was not longer in contact.

Sighing, he walked out into the driveway to do some thinking.

_Please rate and review. Stay tuned to see what becomes of the gang_


	2. Chapter 2: Alone Time

_Here we go. The 2 members of the old gang think they are getting away from people for awhile. But the trips to the mountains weren't without twists. _

_Disclaimer: No Copyright infringement of 'All By myself' or 'I got a rock n roll heart" nor of that 70s show intended. Any similarities with other stories are purely coincidental _

**Chapter 2: Alone time**

Townsend, MT 1985. 

Eric was finishing loading the rest of his stuff into the back of the Jeep. He knew the call from Kelso earlier had somehow had something to do with Hyde. He couldn't say how but he just knew Hyde was wondering about him. Eric was still seething from the fight he and Hyde had back in 1982, so he hoped he would never have to see Hyde again in his lifetime if he could help it. Eric tuned on the radio before turning back and walking back in the house to finish up. Eric picked up the phone and recorded his new voicemail recording 'Hello, you've reached Eric Forman. I will be out for the summer so leave a message and I'll get back to you whenever I get back." The message read. Eric looked at the map showing all the places he wanted to hit. Knowing he had a copy in the car, he folded the map and put it in the bottom of his desk drawer. With a sigh Eric grabbed his wallet and house key and went outside, locking the door of the house before jumping in the Jeep and speeding off.

As he sped off, the radio played :

"**I never needed anyone  
And making love was just for fun  
Those days are gone  
All by myself  
Don't want to be all by myself anymore  
All by myself**"

Butte, MT 1985. 

Jackie was awoken by the lack of movement in the car. She raised he head as she faintly heard the radio softly playing :

"**All by myself  
Don't want to be all by myself anymore"**

"Ugh" she sighed "This song is so depressing". She turned to see what was up. Looking out her window, she saw the she had arrived in 'Butt, Montana'. "Man who would want to live in a place like Butt?" she asked. When she looked around the car and realized both her friends were in side, she quickly look around and realized she was actually in Butte. Gazing to her left, she spotted the bus station. Jackie got out of the car and ran across the dirt parking lot to the bus stations. Upon entering, she was greeted by the refreshing cold air of an air conditioner and the foul smell of an old lady's hair conditioner. Disgusted, she made her way to the counter to find when the next bus was set to leave. 'Not for another 3 hours Ma'am" the ticket agent told her. Jackie quickly handed the money over and got the last ticket on the bus. It was going somewhere in Montana, but she couldn't remember where. Excited, Jackie left the bus depot and ran back to the car promptly unloading her stuff. "Thanks girls" she said as her friends came back "But I changed my plans, I'll take the bus from here" Jackie said. Her two friends, looked at each other and nodded. "Ok Bye" Jackie said as she hurried back to the bus station.

3 hours later, Jackie was sitting comfortably in her seat on the bus. Looking out the window, she couldn't help but admire the folks here in Montana. They seemed to not make quite as much money, but they were not afraid of getting their hands dirty and doing whatever it takes to survive. 'Perhaps this is the kind of life I need to live for awhile' Jackie thought. "What if my unhappiness is because I just can't seem to leave the shallow materialistic part of me behind? What if I need to move to a place like this to get used to having to live on a budget?" she continued thinking, as she felt the lurch of the bus pulling out of the station . Continuing to look out the window, Jackie was taken aback by all the scenery as the bus left Butte heading north.

Point Place 1985

Hyde was sitting on the hood of the Vista Cruiser, still thinking about the fight he and Eric had two days before Eric left. Remembering back, "I wouldn't give a shit man" Hyde winced as he remembered yelling those words at Eric. The gang, minus Donna, had been hanging out in the driveway. But Eric was still unusually quiet and withdrawn and this had bugged Hyde to no end. Hyde knew Eric had changed but he couldn't figure out how much. Hyde had been longing for Eric to snap out of it and just be himself. But Eric hadn't and it led to the showdown of all showdowns between the pair. And after Eric stormed off, Jackie and Fez both glared at Hyde as they walked by following Eric..

Hyde realized then he had gone too far. But it was too late to fix it. "Damn it!" Hyde yelled as he slamming the empty soda can on the ground. Red was sitting outside, and just let Hyde vent, shaking his head, knowing that Hyde hadn't let go off the Eric fight yet. Red missed Eric, but he was proud of Eric for being willing to go off on his own, to be able to make something of himself. "You know" Red began. Hyde looked over, not realizing Red had been out there. "Eric left because he wanted to prove me wrong Steven" Red said. Hyde wasn't sure what Red meant, turning to read he asked "What do you mean Red?". "Look, I had been riding him to get off his duff and make something of his life. When he got that offer to teach in Montana, he gave me a look that said 'You think I can't do it, Watch me'. So stop thinking you were why he left. I think he just needed time away from us." Red concluded as Hyde nodded his head, although he wasn't in full agreement

Between Helena and Great Falls, Montana.

"No, No, No " Eric said, as he approached a construction detour. He was about halfway between Helena and Great Falls, and he just wanted to get away from everyone. Following the detour, Eric then saw a lightly traveled road that seemed to go deep in to the forested areas, and back into the hills. "Bingo" Eric thought, quickly pulling the Jeep onto the less traveled road, and much to his pleasure, it was completely empty. Eric floored the jeep as he got to the pavement that led him towards the mountain adventure he was craving. Reaching in his bag, he pulled out a pack of M&M's he had packed for the trip up here. But when he looked down, he failed to see the other vehicle up ahead.

The next thing Eric remembered was squeezing out of the beat Jeep to talk to the other guy, whose vehicle had sustained very little damage. "Are you ok man?" the other driver asked, "Ya I'm fine. How's your car man?" Eric replied. "Oh it's fine, not a dent on it. Do you need me to fix yours man?" the other driver asked. "No don't worry about it, it's time for a new car anyway" Eric said. Eric turned and noticed the gravel hadn't left any tire marks or footprints, giving him an idea.

Moving away from the other car, Eric went back to his jeep and shoved everything in his bag, and turned to go deep into the hills, hoping no one would find him for a long, long time. He guessed Hyde would continue to try getting in contact with him, but he couldn't help but be filled with rage at the thought of Hyde. 'How could my best friend treat me like that?" Eric wondered as he kept walking deeper into the hills. Eric looked up to see the sun shining brighter than he could have remembered it. He took a deep breath as he heard the sound of a river rushing nearby. Deciding to head down to find some camp spots, Eric began his decent from the top of the hill. Eric then pulled out a portable cassette player he had bought a while ago to listen to a mix tape he had made of all his favorite songs. As he clicked play, Rock n Roll heart played out:

**"I've got a feeling we could be serious, girl;  
Right at this moment, I could promise you the world.  
Before we go crazy, before we explode,"**

Somewhere else between Helena and Great Falls

"Thank You" Jackie said as she shook the woman's hand. Jackie's bus had stopped in Helena and she had decided to get off and hitch a ride north until she found a spot to get out and just disappear. As the woman drove off, Jackie turned to see where she was. She had gotten out of the car on a hill that overlooked the gates of the mountains area. Deciding to not want to deal with all the people at the Gates of the Mountains tour, Jackie grabbed her canoe and walked a few miles upstream. Reaching the water, Jackie couldn't help but be struck with awe at the natural beauty she saw surrounding her. She set all of her stuff down and grab her camera to capture these moments. After taking some picture, she kneeled down and grabbed her cassette player, turning the volume up as it played out:

"**Feels like we're falling into the arms of the night,  
So if you're not ready, don't be holdin' me so tight.  
I guess there's nothing left for me to explain**"

'Wow" she said. She took a deep breath as she took in the fresh mountain air. Even in Colorado, she had never smelled such fresh mountain air. Looking at the sun, Jackie figured she should get going if she was going to find a place to camp. Turning off the cassette player, she loaded everything into her canoe and pushed off from shore.

_Please review and stay tuned to see what obstacles life decides to throw in the way_


	3. Chapter 3:Echos From the Past

_The two members of the gang are well into their adventures. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own 'Axel F' nor 'Can't Fight This Feeling' so no copyright's intended._

**Chapter 3: Echo's from the past**

Somewhere in The hills North of Helena, MT. June 15th, 1985

"Ah" Eric said as he stretched getting out his tent. "Man, mountain air really does help you sleep'. He said aloud as he slipped on hiking boots and prepared to make himself a nice breakfast of trout and pike that he had caught the night before.

As he started the fire, and tossed the trout in pan, Eric got up and walked back to his tent, grabbing a battery powered boom box, Eric put in his mix tape, and set the volume to high. As he walked backed to the pot, he could hear Harold Faltermeyer's 'Axel F' playing. He smiled to himself, enjoying being able to just do what he pleased out here. "Haha, dog poop" said a voice from somewhere. Eric looked up and walked back to the boom box and turned down the music, as he thought he had heard high school kids around talking about dog poop. Standing up and looking around, he saw nothing. He sat down, assuming it was just an echo of the past. He loved the sound of high school voices, but was easily able to shake them, as this was his Eric time, not time to think of the school.

Eric looked out across the clearing and noticed there was an odd mist around the water. But he just shrugged it off. Things about Montana nature just never fit into any patterns, it just happened which is why he had fallen in love with Montana when he got there.

Some miles further down the river, Jackie was just waking up. She was 2 weeks into her little mountain adventure, and loved every minute of it. She had gone to the Gates of the Mountains and just took numerous photos of the scenery. She had caught some fish yesterday and was planning on eating them for breakfast as she had cooked them last night. She walked over to her overturned canoe and pulled out the cooked fish.

Jackie then looked out over the water and noticed the mist. But just took a picture and enjoyed the way it seemed to dance across the water.

Just then, Jackie thought she heard electronic music playing off in the distance, but it faded away moments later. Jackie sat down and just assumed that it was an echo of the past from the clubs she went to in downtown Denver before she left. Jackie remembered trying to go to downtown Denver, hoping to find a guy that would like her for more than just because she worked for the Broncos. Her dates always ended badly and after one former boyfriend tried getting back together, she fully decided to just get away from it all.  
'Man' she thought 'I really am going to end up alone. I live in Denver, a very big metro area with plenty of hot, single guys. Yet I can never find anyone worth a second date' she continued thinking back to her dates with stockbrokers, consultants, bankers, car hops, restaurant busboys and some other guys who just randomly talked to her. To get her mind off it, she reached back in her tent and turned on her cassette player, letting REO Speedwagon's "Can't fight this feeling" blast away as she decided to eat breakfast.

Point Place 12:30PM June 15th, 1985.

"Guys, something's wrong" Fez said as he entered the Forman's kitchen. "What's wrong Fez? Hyde asked. "It's Jackie, she hasn't been home for 2 weeks" Fez said. Fez was the only member of the gang who kept in contact with Jackie. And even that was because of a chance encounter. Fez was visiting Denver with his host parents and had a sideline pass to a Broncos game. There, he had run into Jackie and they exchanged numbers and addresses and that was it.

"I called her today" Fez continued, "And her house mate answered. Her house mate said all she knew was Jackie had left for some soul-seeking adventure and left 2 weeks ago" Fez said. "Now calm down, Man" Hyde said. "She probably just off hiking or something, she'll be back soon". This seemed to ease Fez's mind as he settled into the seat next to Hyde, drinking a cup of water

"You know guys." Hyde began, "I called Eric's this morning" Fez and Kelso shot a glare a Hyde. Hyde ignored the looks, "Ya, I got the machine, he said he was going to be gone this summer so he'd get back when ever he arrived back at home". All 3 men looked stunned. Why would Eric go somewhere for 3 months but not tell anyone where he was going to be. "You don't think Eric and Jackie are both running away to the mountains to get away from everything do you?" Fez asked. Kelso didn't say anything, and Hyde shook his head "Fez, Man, Jackie hated dirt, so she wouldn't be caught camping at all" Hyde said. "Now Forman, who knows with him. He came back and was never the same and I never got in far enough to know how he ticks anymore" Hyde said, standing up and angrily going through the sliding door. "Something's going on here" Kelso said, his detective side coming out. Kelso is the Chief detective for the Point Place PD. "Both Eric and Jackie left here without any closure from any of us friends. So I'm wondering if it's that lack of closure that has made their lives so miserable they have to go on a soul-searching trip. I'm worried one them isn't going to make it back alive" Kelso said sternly, "WE have to figure out where they went Fez" Kelso said.

Hyde had overhead the last part and was frustrated that his friends were butting in where they need to stay out. Stepping in front of Fez and Kelso, Hyde took off his sunglasses and looked at Kelso. "If they wanted us to know where they went, they would have told us. Now Kelso, you can get a trace run on Eric's plate but that is it" Hyde said very sternly. "We are not going out there just to get lost ourselves. Eric is not missing; since he left the message that he'd be gone all summer. So stop worrying, Eric will contact us eventually. And so will Jackie" Hyde said, as he stepped in between Kelso and Fez to go inside. Kelso and Fez understood, but at the same time they wanted to go and find Eric. Both of them had the same problem. Half wanted to go along with what Hyde said, half wants to go to Montana. "I say we decide later, I'm Hungry" Fez said. Kelso agreed and they both hopped in Kelso's car to head to Fatso Burger.

_No one could see what would happen next. And the group in Point place would have no clue about what was about to take place._

_Please Review and stay tuned for the next update. _


	4. Chapter 4:Fateful Mistake or Fates Will?

_The 2 members of the old gang were still out in the wilderness, not knowing the other was out there. The old gang had no clue what was going on. No One could have been prepared for what would happen next, but some gut feelings my reveal hidden clues_

_Disclaimer : I'm not sure if i need to adjust ratings for the minor violence that shows up in the chapter. _

**Chapter 4: A Fateful mistake, or Fates Will?**

Missouri River, June 16th 1985

Eric had woken very early that morning and decided to explore more of the area around his current location as he felt a need for adventure, and had a nagging that there was something out there today he couldn't miss. Leaving his tent in place, Eric dumped out his bag and looked at the contents to decide what he wanted to bring with him. First thing Eric packed was a couple pairs of spare clothes and a few blankets. 'I might need these if I get wet' he said. Eric then decided to pack his rifle and two pistols along with spare ammo. Eric decided to bring these just in case he met a bear or some other wild animal. Eric tossed most of his food, except some M&M's and some of the cooked trout, back into his tent, in a sealed container. Eric then loaded some water and some Gatorade into his pack as well. And lastly, Eric packed his medical kit, complete to the point it looked like an ambulance bag. He couldn't explain why he had packed it, he just had a feeling he should probably pack it. Eric tossed the rest of his stuff in his tent and then made sure his fire was out. Eric then turned south and began his side-adventure into the remote hills. Eric was having fun, much to his surprise. "I remember when I hated to do anything" He said to himself as he climbed a tree to reach the top of a cliff. "

I couldn't even run then or help build anything "He said as he walked off the top of the hill continuing to go down stream. Eric couldn't be happier just being out here by himself, not having to worry about neighbors dropping by, or old friends, who he wanted to forget, calling him. Looking at his watch, Eric saw that he had been gone almost 3 hours already, and looking back, figured he had traversed at least 8 miles. Eric sat down and had a snack of M&M's and piece of fish, with a Gatorade. 'Ah' he said as he put away his garbage, "Fresh mountain air, being able to eat where I want, when I want, and most importantly there is no one around here I have to deal with" he said, grabbing his bag and continuing his journey.

He was finally able to not have to deal with anyone, something Eric hadn't been able to do since almost a week before he and Hyde had their falling out.

'What an idiot" Eric thought as he reached a clearing at the top of a cliff overlooking the river. Taking out his binoculars, Eric looked out across the river. Not seeing much of anything, he tossed them back in back. When a smell hit Eric, 'it smells like fish and old campfire' he thought. Sighing and looking to his left, Eric could see a faint wisp of smoke that seemed to be from a dead campfire. Realizing this meant there was someone else up here, Eric thought of going around the nearby cliff area, to avoid ever seeing that person. He did see some sort of motion occur down there, but didn't think anything of it. That is, until he heard something that turned his blood cold, and froze him in his tracks. Off to his left, someone let out a blood curdling scream that for some reason, sounded familiar. Eric slowly turned toward the sound to see what was up.

Point Place, June 16th, 1985

"Bad news guys" Kelso said, putting the phone down and walking back to the table where Hyde and Fez were seated. "So I had the Montana Highway Patrol put an APB out on Eric's Car" he began, Fez and Hyde listening intently "Well, they found his car. They found it wrecked and abandoned on a stretch of backcountry highway" Kelso said, Hyde becoming more tense. "And more on, there were no footprints and no tire tracks" Kelso said, looking almost confused. "So Eric has apparently disappeared without a trace. I have gotten permission from the Townsend PD to try searching Eric's house for clues, but they said Eric never spent much time at home". He finished. "And" Kelso restarted, remembering one more piece of information "the Townsend PD also said that even if we do think something happened to Eric, we can't report him as missing because he had planned on being gone all summer, and they couldn't search areas because he didn't have a true planned place to go." Kelso said, as the room fell silent. Fez hadn't been able to get any other information on Jackie either. "So both Jackie and Forman have just fallen off the map somewhere in the Montana wilderness?" Hyde said. Kelso and Fez nodded. "So what do you think we should do?" Kelso asked. "Honestly man, I really don't know this time" Hyde replied. The three men just sat at the table, each trying to come up with an idea. But it was to no avail. "I don't think there really is much we can do, is there?" Fez said in a questioning tone. The others shook their heads in agreement.

Further down the Missouri, June 16th 1985

Jackie was up early for a quick swim that morning as she suddenly felt this burst of energy she couldn't seem to get to go away. "Whoop" she began to herself "I come to the middle of nowhere, away from people and suddenly I actually have energy? Ha maybe I should stay in the state forever". Suddenly she could hear a minor growling. Looking down at her stomach, she realized she was hungry. "Eh that's not a decision to make on an empty stomach" she thought. She decided to finish off the trout and have some M&M's for breakfast.  
After breakfast, Jackie went down by the river to rinse her hair. After rinsing her hair, she noticed the river was running higher than it had been the day before, bringing the edge of the water about 2 feet closer to her campsite than it was 2 weeks ago. 'Oh man' she thought, "If that river comes much closer to my stuff, it's going to flood everything." She looked back at the river, 'Well I'm not going to take that risk" she said to herself. At that moment, Jackie looked up to see if she could spot any areas where she could move her camp to, when she saw the perfect spot. It was a somewhat flat area that seemed to sit right on top of the cliff that overlooked the river. "I'm going up there" she said to herself as she turned and began to break down her campsite.

Within 5 minutes, she had the fire put out and the campsite packed and she turned to her left and began to move towards the top of the cliff. She had her camera in her pocket in case she came across any animals, and it pressed against her as she wiggled in between some narrow gaps between trees. 'I don't have any way of defending myself against bears" she thought to herself, remembering that she had decided to not bring her gun or pepper spray with her. It wasn;t long before Jackie realized the way to get up to the top was a winding one on the back side, that was going to take a long time. But she pressed on.

About 3 hours later, Jackie's feet were starting to get tired from all the walking. She had made it a good way up the hill, but the steep slopes were taking a toll. Finding a flat area, Jackie slumped toward the ground to take her break. Taking a glance around, she could see the faint wisp of smoke from the remains of her campfire rising. Slightly unpacking her bag, she pulled out some M&Ms to recharge herself while taking this break. But as she sat there, the pain of her feet beginning to disappear, the thoughts of loneliness began to creep in. "I am like 4 days from any sort of help by now' she thought to her self as she rested. "If anything were to happen to me, I'm on my own out here, and there is like no one around me here miles here, so no one could hear me if I needed" she thought. "Eh well, that camping for ya" she shrugged as she felt well rested and ready to go. Hurriedly, Jackie got back up, reloaded her bag and continued to climb.

No more than 5 minutes later,, Jackie was coming into a clearing, and looking forward, she could see two ways to go. The first one was off to her left and seemed like small clearing, with rugged gaps and walking room and that appeared to wind around the back of the cliff in a much gentler slope. The second choice lay directly ahead of Jackie. It was a bit more steep than the other route, but it appeared to be much shorter than the other route, and a much more direct route. Looking forward and just wanting to be done climbing, Jackie forged ahead along the path that lay straight ahead of her. As she climbed, she began to notice how smooth the rock face really was. Jackie felt a bad feeling creeping in as she reached the top of the cliff, but she couldn't figure out why. She didn't take her bag all the way to the top, electing to set it down in a hidden depression a few paces below the edge of the top.

As Jackie sat down after reaching the top of the cliff, she thought she heard a twig snap behind her. Looking back, see saw nothing. 'Calm down' she thought. Suddenly, something had grabbed her by the arm, yanking her backwards so hard, that it dislocated her shoulder. Looking up, she saw a big figure making it's way towards her, with a chainsaw dripping something off of it. 'Oh my god' she thought inside, trying to not panic 'I've walked into Texas Chainsaw, in Montana' She thought trying to get up to move. As she tried to get up, she suddenly felt her head get thrown into the ground, causing her to get dizzy for a split second. 'Dig deep' she thought, thinking back to survival training she had received 'You can not allow yourself to die here' she thought, her sight coming back into focus as she heard a raspy voice bellow 'Stay down, before we sick the chainsaw on you'. Jackie recognized the voice as the woman who had dropped her off at the Gates 2 weeks ago. 'But that was like 30 miles back' Jackie's mind began to race 'Have they been following me this whole time?' Suddenly a voice broke the thoughts, as she felt herself get pushed away from the trees slightly. They moved her into a clearing but were trying to push her back into the thick trees. Looking around, Jackie came to see the gravity of the situation. If she let them get her back into the trees, nothing could save her then. 'This is your last chance to change the game' she thought to herself. Not seeing any other hope, save for a glint on a nearby area, she decided to get herself towards the cliff edge. Struggling to get up with a dislocated shoulder and feeling blood oozing from her forehead, managed to get up. Seeing the cliff as her only way of escape, she eased her back to the edge, when suddenly she lost her footing and slid over. Without thinking, she used her good arm to catch herself on the edge, and hung there, dangling by one arm. She could hear the captors closing in on her when she suddenly spotted some movement on a nearby cliff. 'It had to have seen the smoke.' She thought, hoping she was right. She tried wiggling her legs at the figure, but it had turned around. Hoping to attract some attention, Jackie took a deep breath and let out a loud, blood-curdling scream. The figure on the other side froze, as soon as she let it out.

_Who is the figure Jackie saw on the other side, and will fate send a hint to the members back in point place? _

_Stay tuned for the next update and please review. _


	5. Chapter 5: The Man in Motion

___Disclaimer: Contains some pretty hefty violence and mentions of blood and shooting. Please skip those parts if it makes you uncomfortable. May lead to a change in rating. I also apologize for posting more than one chapter in a day_

_Jackie finds herself literally clinging to life as she dangles off the cliff. Who was that figure across the cliffs and will the gang in point place get any clues as to the situation?_

**Chapter 5: The Man in Motion.**

Missouri River, June 16th 1985, 2:30PM

Eric looked out over to the next cliff, where he had heard the all too familiar screams. "Jackie?" he said aloud. 'There is no way it is Jackie" he thought. He was about to shake it off when he heard another, even sharper screech. Now there was no doubt, Eric knew it had to be her. Locating the source along the cliff, Eric looked down. 'Oh my god" he said to himself. He was watching a woman hanging off the side of a cliff by one arm, while people with knives and a chainsaw moved towards her. Before he realized what he was doing, Eric had dropped his bag, found, and load his riffle and his pistols. He grabbed the extra ammo and shoved it in his pocket. Even though he was maybe 1000 feet way from her, it seemed like a mile to get to the other cliff. Eric went back and looked at the woman, and judging by her movements, he knew he was her last hope of getting out alive. Eric turned to the right, soon finding himself just running and trying to come up with a plan to save the woman. . 'There is no way I'm doing this' Eric thought, as everything he saw seemed to become blurrier with each scream he heard.

Before he reached the level of the men, Eric spotted a flat area just above the level of the group. Swinging down into it, he realized he had found a clearing that gave him a clear shot at the middle of the group, while keeping him hidden. Throwing himself to the ground, he began crawling towards the small gap, putting his rifle into the gap. Eric sat up and moved the gun slightly to the left. Looking down the scope, Eric found the woman with the chainsaw directly in the crosshairs. Aiming the shot slightly in front of her, he fired the shot. Eric scrambled to his feet as soon as the bullet left the gun. Glancing up, Eric saw some thick trees that would allow him to get leverage above the group. "There's the chance" he thought, running up and jumping into the branches as he heard the scream below telling him the shot had hit the mark. Crawling through the branches, his mind began to race. "Why would those guys be all the way out here and why would they be targeting her" he thought to himself as he jumped a gap between trees and found himself essentially directly above the group, with a clear sight of the poor woman hanging off the cliff.

She had found a foothold, as she was slightly relaxed off of her good arm, but her strength was starting to weaken, He glanced once more at her as he spotted something red. He focused on it, seeing it was blood oozing out of her forehead. Eric's face flushed with rage, as he found himself clenching his fists. 'Those men will pay" Eric said to himself, as he swung into one more tree,. He paused once more looked back towards the woman, took a deep breath and became a man in motion.

Hanging above the Missouri River, June 16th, 1985 2:45PM

Jackie's stomach dropped as she saw the figure just standing there, so she let out more screams. She saw the figure turn her way multiple times, scan towards her and then disappear. Her stomach sank even further when it disappeared, as her last chance of beating these guys seemed to have slipped away. Swinging side to side, she was able to find a foothold on the cliff face, moving her foot into it to relieve some of the pressure off of her hand, hoping to buy sometime. Once she slid over, she let out more screams hoping the figure would come back. She continued screaming. But she saw a glint of light from a small clearing slightly above the clearing the men were trying to move into. "What did I ever do" she wondered, but she was brought back to reality as she heard a loud clink noise, and not even a moment later she saw the figure with the chainsaw fall to the ground in a pool of blood with the blood oozing out of a hole in his head. 'He's been shot' she said to herself as she saw something glint in the trees above. Making sure to divert their attention, she wiggled as though she were trying to climb back up. Suddenly, she looked up and locked eyes with the figure she had seen on the other cliff and she froze. There was no way she was seeing what she thought she saw. 'Is that Eric?" she thought 'No way, he would never do this. He would be too scared to do this. '. But ass she continued watching him, seeing his eyes darting between the trees, the group and her, she knew he wasn't backing out. Suddenly, she saw him mouth the words 'Those men will pay', and she knew that it was in fact, Eric.

"What is Eric doing out here?' she thought to herself, as she slipped into her own thoughts. 'Why would he actually try saving me?' she continued to wonder. Crack! She was startled back out her thoughts by a commotion on her left. All the men in the group were suddenly rushing towards a guy with a rifle. The man was screaming 'What did you bastards do to her?" while shoving the gun in their faces. The other men, were trying to sneak up behind Eric's back to get him, when she saw Eric, still holding the rifle out in front of him, reach into his pocket and pull out a pistol. Without looking, he shot all the men behind him with pinpoint accuracy. "You guys decided to attack the wrong woman, and now, the hammers coming down baby" he said, laughing manically. Seeing this brought back memories of Eric acting like a madman with his guns and light sabers. Back then she thought he was just a crazy twiggy kid, she never would have guessed that one day, her life would depend on that crazy kid with the basement. She watched anxiously as he continued to use the rifle to move the guys towards the other end of the cliff and away from her. 'Please push them back a little more' she thought as she watched him continuing to force the group away from her.

Seeing the coast was clear, Jackie used the foothold and all the strength she had left in her good arm to pull herself up on top of the cliff. She was hoping that no one else would attack her and Eric would be able to chase them off. She glanced towards him, but everything had begun to have a red tint. Trying to clear her eyes, she saw Eric shove a couple of the group over the cliff. As the group tried to move in on Eric, her vision suddenly became blurry. 'C'mon Good Sir' she prayed as her vision slipped into black. Jackie was now unconscious and unaware of the fight raging up ahead.

Point Place 6:00PM

"Fez man are you ok?" Hyde asked. Fez opened his eyes, and saw Hyde and Kelso, staring with expressions of concern. "What a dream" Fez said. Hyde and Kelso looked at each other, than looked back at fez with an expression that encouraged fez to explain. "Well, it was a dream that involved Jackie" Fez began "She was hiking up something, when suddenly something grabbed her. " Fez said shaking "Next, the dream sped through some stuff and Jackie was laying somewhere bleeding and out cold. But it didn't really give any scenery so I have no idea where it would be.". Hyde and Kelso sat down on the floor, trying to make sense of what their foreign friend had just dreamed. They were trying to picture Jackie just laying somewhere, helpless and bleeding. It was a strange dream, but none of them would know the condition Jackie was in thousands of miles away, nor were they aware of the situation Eric was in.

Top of the cliff 4:30PM

"Don't you dare grab that knife" Eric said, pushing his rifle barrel harder against the mans chest. Eric had successful neutralized all but 2 of the members of the group that had been pursuing the woman. But he had not had a chance to look back at her, as he pulled his bag back towards him. Eric saw the knife the man was reaching for and kicked it just out of his reach. On his right, the only other member not neutralized was beginning to stir, blood soaking the shoulder of his shirt. Looking back down at the man underneath his gun, Eric couldn't help but just end the fight there, firing 3 shots into the man's chest, Eric knew the man was gone. 'Shit' he said, realizing he had just emptied the ammo, and not sure of how many bullets he had left. Out of the corner of his eye, Eric spotted the glint of a knife just as it dug into his shoulder-blade. Using instinct, Eric reached into his bag and grabbed the knife his father had given him before he left for Africa. Feeling it in his grasp, he yanked it out of the bag and spun around towards the man, grazing his calf with the knife. The man grabbed his calf and yelled, giving Eric the split second he needed to get up.

As Eric got up, he grabbed his rifle and used the butt to sweep the man's legs out from underneath him. As Eric went to attack the man, the man retaliated by stabbing Eric in the shoulder again, deeper this time. Using his own knife, Eric slashed at the man's wrist, forcing him to let go of the knife lodged in Eric's shoulder. Without pulling out the knife, Eric took his own knife and dug it deep into the man's chest. As he stabbed the man, he looked over and saw how close to the edge of the cliff he was, Eric got an idea. As he pulled the knife out of the man's chest, Eric used his strength to shove the man over the cliff. Eric knew he had succeeded as he heard the man's body hit the water. 'Bye Bye' he said. Moving back towards his bag, Eric glanced towards the woman, she wasn't moving but it appeared as though she was still breathing. 'She should be ok for a few minutes' he thought to himself as he pulled out his medical bag. Eric took out an ace wrap, and wrapped it around the shoulder with the knife still protruding out, hoping to stop it from bleeding. Turning towards the woman, Eric realized she should be tended to. But as he got up to walk over to her, he began to see two of her. Eric was exhausted from the events of the day, but he knew he needed to reach this woman to give her some help. Dropping to his knees, he began to slowly crawl towards her 'C'mon man, she needs your help' he thought to himself as he struggled with each movement. As he neared the woman, he could barely crawl anymore as he began to feel light-headed. Using what he had left in strength, he heft the bag and tossed it towards the woman. He watched as it landed it in the dirt right in front of her. Trying to crawl the last 10 feet towards her, Eric suddenly couldn't see, he slumped to the ground on his back as exhaustion had taken over his body. 'Oh God Please' Eric yelled out as he slid into unconsciousness as a faint mist began to form above them.

Eric and Jackie both lay there, unconscious and severely injured, and neither knowing for sure who the other one was, and are completely vulnerable to any sort of attack on the clifftop, as thunder rolls in the distance.

_The group in point place has no idea of Eric and Jackie's condition as they both lay upon a clifftop, unconscious and severely injured with thunder rolling in the distance. _ _Will Kelso's hunch that only one will survive ring true, or do both our friends have a guardian angel? Stay tuned._

_Please let me know what you think of this chapter_


	6. Chapter 6: Aftermath

_Jackie and Eric both lay on the ground after the violent confrontation, neither knowing for sure who the other was. But what happens when they wake up? And Kelso gets some startling news. _

**Chapter 6: Aftermath**

Point Place 8:30PM

"I got nothing" Hyde said, looking down at his cards. Something didn't feel right, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Looking at Kelso and Fez, he noticed that they were having similar feelings as well. "Guys, something feels wrong" Fez said, laying his cards down, trying to figure out what could be wrong, but he could not think of anything. Kelso had nodded his head in agreement, but even the detective could not figure out why a bad feeling had crept into the pit of his stomach. 'Do you think it has something to do with us deciding to not go to Montana?" Kelso asked. "Could be" Hyde replied. "But why would we get a bad feeling about that? We've made other choices, good or bad and never gotten a reaction. We decided to give it a few more weeks before we went, but I'm not sure if that was right or not" he said, taking off his sunglasses and setting them down on the table. "None of us ever truly know what the right decision is" Kelso said, "I think we as people don't actually ever truly know a good decision from a bad one, we just make the decision and trust in ourselves we made the right one. And man I'm really hoping we made the right decision" Kelso said as he leaned his chair back. Hyde and Fez nodded in agreement, neither of them saying a word.

Clifftop above the Missouri River, Montana 7:30PM

'Oh goodness gracias what did I do?' Jackie thought to herself, but the pounding in her head brought it all back. "Oh god she thought to herself as she attempted to roll over to her side from her back, but couldn't quite do it due to her dislocated shoulder. Opening her eyes, all she could see were trees and a faint misty fog hanging over her. Blinking twice, Jackie turned her head to the left. All she could see there was flat land with a few scattered weapons. 'Man that group was loaded' she thought as her eyes scanned over the various knifes that were sitting on the ground. 'I wonder what happened to the guy?" she wondered as she turned he head to the right. All she could see was what appeared to be a medical kit with an ace wrap and a sling hanging out of the top. Adjusting her bad shoulder so it wouldn't move, Jackie used her good arm and her feet to drag herself to the bag an pull her upper body onto the bag. As she leaned back against the bag, she ran her good hand across her forehead. The cut on her forehead had clotted, but she could feel the marks of dried blood along her forehead and down her nose. 'Man I probably look like a demon or something' she said to herself softly. Jackie looked down at her shoulder, and before she could think twice, she reached over with her good hand and popped the shoulder back in place. Feeling the pain as she moved it, she decided to sling it. Reaching around into the bag, she grabbed the sling and applied it to her shoulder. 'There we go" she said proudly as she was able to move around easier. 'Gurgle Gurgle Growl' she heard as she looked down at her stomach. She hadn't ate since lunch, and her body was telling her so. She knew she had to find some food. Slowly, Jackie was able to rise to her feet. Once on her feet, she paused for a second to allow her head to catch up. Once everything settled down, She began scanning the area, trying to figure out where to head to find some food. Jackie turned to her left, hoping she would find a trail that lead back down to the river. Walking slowly as to prevent excessive jarring, Jackie began her trek towards the left, until she looked slightly to the right.

Laying there in the grass, was the guy who had saved her, as she scanned over him, her heart sank as she laid eyes on the knife sticking out of him. From her vantage point, the knife appeared to be in the man's chest. She stood there stunned for a few seconds, before deciding she owed it to this man to try helping him. Jackie quickly turned back around, and as quickly as she could, went back to the medical bag. At first glance, the bag didn't seem that heavy. But as Jackie tried to lift it, she found herself dropping the bag. 'Damn, this bag is heavy' she said. Getting down on one knee, Jackie was able to bend forward far enough to get her good shoulder in the strap of the medical bag. As she stood up, she almost fell over. But gaining her balance, she turned and hurried back towards the man lying on the ground. The man moved slightly as he dropped the bag next to him.

'Good God what happened?' Eric thought to himself as he began to come to. He tried moving his right arm, but a deep pain prevented him from doing so. 'Oh right he said, as he a flashback to the knife being dug into his shoulder. Keeping his eyes closed, he tried figuring out how he was going to get himself up off the ground. But suddenly, he heard a bag drop next to him. He moved slightly to the left, just in case it was another sneak attack. Opening his eyes, he relaxed when he saw it was just the woman he saved examining the knife.

Jackie relaxed some as she looked closely at the man, seeing the knife was only sticking out of his shoulder, and seeing him still breathing. She didn't notice his eyes open, as she was too busy examining the knife and the medical kit trying to figure out how she was going to get the knife out. Seeing an extra ace wrap, she came up with a plan. Grabbing the knife in her good hand, Jackie closed her eyes and pulled out the knife. The man startled her as he let out a yell as she yanked it, she quickly grabbed the gauze pad and placed it over the wound. The she grabbed the ace wrap and turned to apply it to the man. But she was stopped as he raised his hand, touching her leg.

Eric had seen what the woman's plan for his shoulder was, but he saw she had gotten a sling on and figured he could get the ace wrap on himself. 'Let me do it' he instructed her as she let go of the ace wrap. Eric sat up, groaning from the pain in his shoulder, and looked at the shoulder. A small amount of blood had trickled out, as a small portion of the gauze wrap had turned red. Biting his lip, Eric placed the ace wrap on the shoulder, and instructed the woman to put pressure on it to keep it in place, as he used his good arm to wrap it around. 'There ya go, she said, as she put a safety pin in the end of it to make sure it stayed in place. 'Thank You" Eric said. "I thought I would never get to thank you for saving my life sir" Jackie said as she reached a hand out "My name is Jackie Burkhart". Eric turned and grasped her hand "My name is Eric Forman". He said as he raised his gaze. Both of them froze, as they locked eyes. 'No way" they said in unison as they both smiled.

Point Place 10:15PM

'OK, thanks for the update Harry" Kelso said as he hung up the receiver. Turning back towards Hyde and Fez, Kelso's face sunk. "I've got some bad news guys" he began. "That was Harry from the Montana Highway Patrol. He said that if Jackie and Eric really are in that area, they are in grave danger" He said. "What do you mean?" Hyde asked. "Harry said in that area, they lost track of a group of escaped convicts a few days ago. He said they had people on the outside waiting for them in this area." Kelso said. "But why are they so dangerous?" Fez asked. "This group of convicts, was convicted 3 years ago of kidnapping and murdering 3 unsuspecting hikers. Harry said they were all killed by a chainsaw and knifes". Kelso said. Hyde and Fez froze. Eric and Jackie did appear to be in trouble after all. "Ok heres the plan" Hyde began. "Kelso, go fill up the El Camino and get some snacks too. Fez, go to your bank and pull enough money for us to get to Montana. Everyone meet back here in 30 minutes. We have to get out there and try finding Eric and Jackie" He finished as Kelso and Fez tore out the door. Neither one of them even cracked a joke as the seriousness of the situation scared them.

_The point place gang is about to head out to find Eric and Jackie. Meanwhile, Eric and Jackie have just discovered who the other is._

_Was the gang the MHP was looking for, the gang Eric took out? And will the point place gang ever actually find their two friends?_

_Stay tuned for more updates. _

_Sorry i know this seems like more of a filler chapter. _

_Please Review_


	7. Chapter 7: Vacation Reboot

_Jackie and Eric just realized who the other was, as they both patched the other up. But what happens when they get some rest. Hyde finds something in Eric's car that upsets him. _

**Chapter 7: Vacation Reboot**

Missouri River, Montana June 18th, 1985

"So which one are we going to use?" Jackie asked, as they paddled towards shore, where the rest of Eric's stuff still sits, undisturbed. Looking at Jackie, he replied, "Whichever one can fit everything and us" as they both laughed. Jackie and Eric both got out of Jackie canoe to pull it in as neither could do it on their own. Eric had realized that the knife had damaged some muscle in his shoulder, and Jackie realized that for how long the shoulder was dislocated and how much it hit stuff, that there was other damage in there.

The day before, her and Eric had decided to move away from the cliff top as they were afraid of more attacks if they stayed. As they walked down towards Jackie's canoe, they stepped over a couple dead bodies. And Eric had d noted 'Montana Dept. Of Corrections' printed on the back of one of the bodies, but couldn't say much as Jackie was excited to see her bag. It had taken them almost 6 hours just to reach the shore. And they decided then and there to take her canoe and her stuff back to Eric's area and go from there.

As they pulled the canoe in, both of them groaned as the amount of strength it took to pull it into shore, made their good arms sore. "So what is for breakfast?" Jackie asked, looking at Eric. "Well unless bears got it, in my tent I have some m&m's, some peanut butter, some Gatorade and some old fried beans" he replied with a smile. 'Ya know" Jackie began "After the events of the last few days, any of that actually sounds good". She smiled as her and Eric turned and began walking towards Eric's campsite. But Eric still had numerous questions that he wanted an answer to. "So Jackie, What are you doing here in Montana? Last Kelso said was Fez told him you were in Denver working as a PR agent for the Broncos" Eric asked. Jackie shook he head as her and Eric approached Eric's campfire area, which had a log to sit on. Turning towards him, she began "Well I quit that job. I mean I loved being a part of the Broncos, but I realized it just wasn't the job for me" she said, as Eric looked at her half surprised. Ignoring his look, "I mean I haven't had a true boyfriend since 1978. All the guys in Denver only wanted to date me because I worked for the Broncos. So I decided to just get away from everyone for a long time. I withdrew all my money from the bank, and came up here, hoping to never see a soul this summer." She finished, as Eric was in his tent grabbing food, but nodded as he made sense of what she said.

"Well join the club Jackie" he said as he handed her some M&Ms and beans, sitting down next to her. "That's almost exactly why I am out here" he said. "Really?" Jackie asked with a look that demanded an explanation. "Yes. I mean I had that fight with Hyde back in '82 and I came out here. I mean I love it here and I was voted Montana Teacher of the Year and Montana's Best High School teacher for 1984. But all the awards meant nothing to me if I didn't have anyone to share it with" he said, taking a bite of food. As he finished chewing, he continued "And last summer and this spring, a few of my students had begun to remind of that. Last summer they covered my yard in dog poop" Eric said as he and Jackie chuckled, remembering all the teachers they had delivered dog poop to the porch. "They reminded me that I was young and single, living in an area with very few attractive single women. I hadn't had any luck in Helena or Bozeman trying to find someone. Then this spring, and right before school dismissed for the summer, the students reminded me that the only reason they prank me, Is because they know I'm alone, but they don't want me to have an uneventful life." He said looking at Jackie. Jackie was finishing chewing on her beans, when a question popped into her mind. "So why did you have to come out here?" she asked. "Well I came out here to try clearing my head, and I was hoping I figure out exactly what I was looking for in my life." He replied, as he took a drink of Gatorade. "Yet fate had other ideas" he began, as Jackie turned and looked at him "Instead of a summer to myself in the mountains, I get two weeks of alone time, before I end up saving a damsel in distress" He said casting Jackie a smirk before he continued "And yet all I got out of it was a knife to my shoulder blade and a pounding head." Jackie looked up and smirked. "Ya sorry bout that" she said, glancing at his shoulder. "Guess fate had other ideas for me too. Instead of a long time out here by myself, I got two weeks into it and was starting to enjoy it, when only I would run into a pack of thugs, one of which dropped me off like 50 miles down stream" she said, diverting her eyes from Eric's questioning look. "And what did I get for my efforts? A dislocated shoulder with muscle damage, a concussion, and having to be rescued by a guy I hadn't talked to since 1982" she smirked as she looked up. Eric was smiling looking out over the river. 'How much you want to bet Kelso and them are somewhere out here looking for us?" he asked. "Oh I'm sure they are" Jackie responded, not fully listening to Eric's question. Instead, she was lost in her own strange thoughts. 'What if this expedition wasn't really a failure' she thought 'What if the person and thing I'm truly looking for in life, has been a part of it for years' she finished her thought as she looked at Eric. 'What if Eric is really what I'm looking for, and what if it's the small town life I've been yearning for that made Denver so unbearable for me' She thought as Eric caught her gaze.

Scene of Eric's abandoned car June 18th

It was about noon as Hyde's El Camino pulled up on the scene of Eric's abandoned Jeep. "Man that is a nice looking Jeep" Hyde said as he exited the car, Kelso and Fez quickly following. Kelso and Hyde had decided to start looking for Eric at the site of Eric's car rather than his house, as they pulled into a hotel last night. Kelso had gotten the directions to get to the car from his friend Harry, and they had been driving since 10. Coming back to reality, Hyde walked across the dried up ground towards Eric's car. Noticing the damage, Hyde's heart sank slightly. As he examined the car, he found a note hidden in Eric's glove compartment. Hyde stepped back from the card as the note read

"To Hyde,

I thought you were my best friend, the guy I could go to for anything. You were the only guy I could trust. That was until I returned a few weeks ago. When I left, you were still trying to get Jackie back, and from what I heard, you were pretty close. But I came back and you were married to a Vegas stripper. You were not the same Hyde. In fact, you seemed meaner. I wanted to tell you what was going on, but you wouldn't have understood. Please back off

Thanks,

Eric

"Damn it" Hyde thought as he finished the note. 'Forman was going to let me in. But I chased him off." He thought, and then he spotted a sliver of paper tucked in the envelope. The other note was not as nice, as it simply said 'Hyde wants nothing to do with me, fine I never want to speak to him or see him again'. Hyde felt bad as he read this note, not realizing Kelso and Fez were looking over his shoulder. "Man Hyde, you really pushed Eric away huh?" Kelso said, bringing Hyde out of his thoughts. "Ya I guess so man. But how can I keep looking for a guy who wants nothing to do with me?" he said. "I'm going into Helena to try finding a motel so I can figure out what to do next. So you guys can either join me or you can walk" Hyde said opening the door to the El Camino. Kelso and Fez looked at each other reluctantly, but followed Hyde. Without noticing the slip of paper stuck to the outside of the envelope, had angrily shoved the note in the glove box. He started the car, and sped angrily away from Eric's car.

Eric's Camp 3:00PM

Eric and Jackie had both pulled out sleeping bags and fallen asleep for some extra rest. Eric had awoken at about 2:30 and glanced at Jackie. He found himself still glancing at her, his mind racing. 'What if fate had something to do with this?" he wondered, as he turned to disassemble his tent. "Whatever the reason, I've got to take care of Jackie." He reminded himself as he worked to fit the tent back into it's bag. As it fit, he glanced at the two boats, and figured they should use Jackie's simply because it was bigger. Glancing at his watch, he hoped Jackie would wake up soon, as he was getting tired quickly from loading everything into the boat, along with Jackie's stuff. Sitting down on the log for a rest, he heard Jackie stir.

As Jackie sat up in her sleeping bag, she noticed that everything from Eric's campsite had been taken down. A slight panic overtook her as she frantically scanned for Eric. She relaxed as she spotted him on the log with his back turned to her. She quickly got out of the bag and folded the bag, picking it up as she walked towards Eric. "Good afternoon" she said sitting down next to him. "Afternoon" he said looking at her. "Go ahead and load that in your boat" he said to her, motioning at her sleeping bag. She nodded and walked over to the boat, dropping the sleeping bag in. Turning back around towards Eric, she asked "So where are we planning to go?". Eric looked up as she approached. "You know, I'm not 100% sure yet. I was thinking maybe we could just head south on the river, just in case anyone was alerted that we were here" he said, but there was a look in his eyes that said there was more to it. "OK." She said, sitting down beside him. "So tell me about Townsend" she said as she pulled some candy from her pocket, handing some to Eric. "Well, it's a pretty small town. It's actually located on this river. It's quite a bit away at the end of a reservoir that they named Canyon Ferry Lake. It's like Point Place but better" Eric said with a snicker. "Why are you so interested suddenly?" he asked. Jackie had been momentarily stunned by the question, but answered "Well I need to leave Denver, and I need to get some options of places to live." "Oh. Ok" Eric said, not fully believing her, "Well why don't we head out so we can find a spot before sundown?" he said, standing up, and offering his good arm to Jackie. She took his offer and stood up. Reaching the boat, they both began to wonder what the intent of the other was as they climbed in. Neither knowing what the other was planning, they used their oars and pushed the boat away from shore and began floating down the Missouri River.

_Jackie and Eric are floating on the Missouri_. _But their inner thoughts seem to be on the same page, although they may not have realized it. And neither knows what the other is hoping for. _

_Will Hyde recover from the last note he read and work to find Eric, or will Kelso have to take over? Stay tuned_

_Please Review_


	8. Chapter 8:A New Beginning

_Jackie and Eric find themselves together for almost a week now. Will fate play its hand, or is something else at play? _

**Chapter 8: A New Beginning**

Missouri River, Montana June 20th

"Here Jackie why don't I pull while you push?" Eric asked, as he and Jackie were struggling to get their canoe away from the shore. "Ok" Jackie agreed, moving to the front of the boat while Eric moved to the back. "One, Two, Three Push" Eric said, as he used his good arm to pull the canoe towards the water. As they worked, the canoe finally moved and floated slightly, as Jackie attempted to jump in before it floated away too far. Eric saw this and couldn't help but laugh. He remembered the old Jackie who wouldn't do anything that require and physical work and who hated the idea of boating. 'I thought having to take care of Jackie would be a pain. But she is actually really fun to be around' Eric thought as he hopped into the canoe. "So Jackie, What exactly was in that breakfast you somehow made one handed?" Eric asked. Jackie smiled, remembering how she was when Eric last saw her. Turning her head to the left, "Oh it was some beans, eggs and trout" she said proudly. "Wait when did you catch trout?" Eric asked, as he couldn't remember her being away long enough to catch anything. "Oh I didn't, and you didn't. Apparently, yesterday as we were going along, my pole dropped somewhat, and the hook fell into the water. As we pulled into shore last night, I noticed it but didn't say anything because I wanted to surprise you" Jackie said, a beaming smile across her fact. "Very nice" Eric said, a smile attempting to creep in across his face. "Ok let's turn to the right slightly so we don't catch the current" Eric said, as Jackie turned to adjust her oar, pushing back as the canoe turned slightly to the right. Eric was still surprised at how much Jackie had adapted to the wilderness. "So how fast are we planning on going today honey?" Jackie asked, as she paddled along one handed. Eric froze as he heard the word 'honey'. Shaking it off, Eric said coolly "It's up to you Jackie". She smiled as she turned back, stroking her paddle through the crisp water. Eric watched his own paddle stroke through the water, before he slipped into his own thoughts. 'Crap, my Dad's knife was still in that guy I pushed into the water. What if he washed up? My summer is ruined then' Eric thought. 'But, we are like 40 miles from where it all took place' he thought with a smile as he glanced at Jackie. 'And I'm alone with Jackie, who seems to be what I've been looking for. But there's no way she could have a thing for me' Eric thought, as they continued paddling.

Helena, MT June 20th, 11 AM

"C'mon Hyde let it go" Fez pleaded, as Hyde sat across the table from him, still angry over the note he found. "Look you and Eric had a fight, you both said things that you can never take back, yet wish you did." Fez continued, as Hyde looked up at Fez with an angry glare. "Eric is probably still mad that his best friend said something so hurtful" Kelso interjected. "Which is all the more reason to go and get him. He needs you now more than ever. " Kelso finished, returning an angry glare towards Hyde. "Yes" Fez began "C'mon Hyde, if Eric were to get killed by those escapees, you would never forgive yourself. Now come here" Fez motioned toward the second bed, where Fez and Kelso had a map laid across the bed. Not wanting to do it, but wanting Kelso and Fez off his back, he went over to the map.

Kelso and Fez had been working for awhile on the map, as numerous erase marks could be seen. They had marked the location of Eric's car and they circled where he lived. They even had some maps of the mountains in the area to compare with the map. "Ok so what we are thinking, is that Eric truly wanted to be left alone, which is why he left the car where he did. " Kelso said. "And we circled where he lived to come up with an area that you could go to and hideout for a few months, but still be back within 3" Fez said looking over the map. Hyde was impressed, as it seemed like Kelso and Fez really were smarter than they appeared to be. "Ok so how big of an area are we talking about here man?" Hyde asked. "As of now, about 2000 square miles, with about 1200 of that being unsearchable by air due to narrow flying space and thick trees" Kelso replied. "Unless we can find some other clues, we don't really have a set area to try finding Eric. That means we could go looking for him and never find him" Fez said as all three men returned their gaze to the map. "Hmm" the 3 men said as they tried figuring out where Eric might have gone.

The men had spent the whole afternoon trying to come up with an idea. By now they were all hungry and craved pizza. Kelso and Fez had left to go get some pizza, leaving Hyde alone in the room. After some pacing,Hyde looked at the map and thought a few seconds more. Then picking up a topographic map of the area, he got an idea. He grabbed a pencil and went to work formulating his idea as to where Eric might have gone.

Missouri River June 20th 9PM

"There we go" Eric said as he finished tying the knot on the canoe to keep it in place for the night. He and Jackie had both decided to stop for the night, as it had begun to get slightly chilly. "Hey honey, the dinners ready" Jackie called down. Eric had to smile. He wasn't totally sure why Jackie had begun to call him honey, but for some reason, he didn't hate it. He actually kind of enjoyed it. As he came up off the shore, he was greeted by the familiar smell of trout mixed with berries. As he reached the campfire, Jackie handed him a bowl and he gingerly sat down next to her. "So" Jackie began "Ever since I called you honey this morning, you've been really quiet" she said as Eric swallowed his last bite of food. Turning towards Jackie "Right. But it isn't a bad thing trust me" he began "When you called me honey, it made me wonder if I had actually fulfilled my mission out here." He said as Jackie looked down at him with warm eyes. As they locked eyes, Jackie could tell that inside, he felt the same way towards her that she felt towards him. "And it made me wonder if maybe, just maybe, I might be falling for you Jackie" Eric finished as he continued gazing at her.

"You know Eric, you better hurry up" Jackie began "Because I've already fallen for you Eric." Eric broke the gaze, shocked by Jackie's remark. "But how?" he asked. "Well" she began "In my two weeks out here, I did figure something out. My whole adult life, I've been looking for the wrong thing. I've been looking for the guy who just has the looks and money. I always thought I was looking for the fast-paced high status life of being rich in a big city" She said, looking down towards the river. "But this whole trip has showed me that isn't what I'm looking for. I've spent barely any money out here and i'm happy. i realized the reason I hated Denver so much was because you could work hard, but it wasn't enough unless you were hitting the clubs a bit. I was in an area where no one cared about anything but money and who you work for. I left because I didn't want to be known for being in the spotlight because of my job, I wanted to be known for my success based on who i am. And as far as what i'm looking for in a guy, i realized what i'm looking for there too. " Jackie said, as Eric leaned in some for warmth

"So what are you looking for in a guy now then?" Eric asked. "Well" Jackie began. "It's actually kind of funny." she said snickering. But getting serious, she continued. "Being out here, i figured out that just chasing the best looking guy isn't going to get me anywhere, besides short relationships. So out here when i did some thinking. And i realized where i was wrong. I'm not looking for rich, hot guys or that lifestyle. Instead, I'm looking for a simple guy who works hard for his money. I'm looking for a guy who can take care of someone when they are sick and injured.I'm looking for that guy who wants a family and is good with kids. And most importantly, I'm looking for a guy who is selfless and encourages others to do the same" she said as she looked at Eric. "But the funny thing is, You fit all of the criteria Eric" she said as he flashed her a questioning glance. "How so?" he asked.

"Well you are simple. You are a school teacher, not completely a lucrative profession, and you became one not because of the money, but because you actually wanted to. And those awards you mentioned are an symbol of that. You are great with teens, and you care deep enough that you worked tirelessly with the students. You showed you can take care of someone when you helped me get my stuff when i couldn't lift it. But most importantly,you are selfless. You always do things for the better of everyone else, not for personal gain. and for example, you rescued me. Now you didn't fully know who I was, but you saw I was in trouble. You could have walked away, but you didn't. You risked life and limb to save my life, even though you had absolutely no reason to." She said, as she could hear him snicker.

"Ya that's usually a fault of mine" he said, as he wrapped a blanket around the two of them. "But I'm not too simple" He said "I'm not totally sure why I did, but about 2 weeks before I left, I made a bid on this 30 acre ranching property. It was one of those with a classic 2 story house, with trees all over and a couple of horse stables." Eric began. Jackie smiled, as he described the property. It was sounding more and more like her dream house, where she would want to raise a family. "And my agent said that I had the best bid. Partly because I had gone to the bank and gotten pre-approved before I even looked at the property," he said smiling. "So basically you could go back and have a whole new home to go back to," she said, as she saw Eric nod. "But there's one little problem with all that" he said, "What's that?" Jackie asked. "Well" he began, turning to look at Jackie "It's a 6 bedroom house on a ranch property, and there's only me to live in it" he said. Jackie understood completely, here was a guy who fit all of her criteria, who for no reason at all bought a property that sounded like her dream house, yet he was single and a house like that would just serve to further remind him of how lonely he really was. She still couldn't believe this was the same Eric she knew in high school. Now, she almost felt as though she was punishing Eric by not seeing if there was a chance for her to be with him. Shaking off the thought, she decided to share a secret dream with him.

"You wanna hear something crazy?" Jackie asked. "Sure" Eric replied. "Just don't laugh?" she asked as Eric agreed. "Well about two nights into this trip i had a strange dream. I had asked God to give me some sort of hint as to what was supposed to happen for me to meet the guy that is right for me. Well the dream gave me that, i know now. In the dream, it had me hanging off a cliff, literally clinging to life. A voice in the dream told me that my guy would be the one to step in and help me. in the dream, i thought the guy was familiar. and it turned out he was" She finished as she looked at Eric, who had a smile on his face. "Ironically. I had a similar dream' he began. "about two weeks before I left, i had asked for a dream about where I might actually meet a woman I could see living my life with. Well in my dream, i was hiking along as I heard a scream. and the rest played out when i rescued you" he said, locking eyes with Jackie. Both could feel some sort of connection in the gaze, but couldn't tell if it should be acted upon. Jackie had spent most of her day wondering if there was even a chance with Eric. As they continued gazing at each other, Jackie realized this was her chance to see if there was a possibility with Eric. Leaning towards him, she kissed him softly on the lips. When she got the reply kiss, her question was answered. Eric turned and deepened the kiss even further, knowing Jackie felt the same towards him that he did towards her. They deepened their kiss, as they slid off the log and onto the sleeping bags Jackie had laid out, taking care to not jar the others bad shoulder. Eric broke the kiss to catch his breath, but Jackie had resumed the kiss, deepened the kiss even further as the fire crackled nearby.

Point Place 11:30PM

Red had just finished reading the note Hyde had left for him. Red almost felt terrible as Hyde had given him the news that a group of escaped murderers had lost the police near the area where they found Eric's car abandoned car. His son potentially was in serious danger, but a recent dream had put Red's mind at ease. He had a dream where Eric had met someone beautiful and was floating down the river with her, although it did seem like he had some sort of bandage or something on his shoulder. Red tucked the note away in his pocket and walked through the swinging door, hoping his dream was right. Kitty was sitting on the couch thinking about the note Steven had left for her. All the note said was that Steven,Kelso and Fez were going to Montana to catch up with Eric, so Steven could patch things up with Eric.

"I think something else is going on Red" Kitty began. "There is no way Steven is going all the way to Montana to patch things up with Eric". "How do you know that?" Red asked as he took a seat in his pea green chair. "Steven hasn't been able to think straight since Eric left, and he feels responsible for Eric leaving. So there is a chance he wants to fix things" Red finished as Kitty turned to look at him. "Maybe you're right" Kitty said as she turned to the TV and muted it, before turning back to Red. "But what if there was something else going on?" she asked. Red sat back trying to think of what to say next, he glanced at the TV as the breaking news headline came across the screen. The headline read 'Montana manhunt for escaped backcountry murderers.' 'Wow' Red thought to himself, 'I guess Steven and Kelso were right' turning back to Kitty, he took a deep breath before he gave Kitty the news. "Kitty. Steven and Kelso and Fez did go to Montana for another reason." Red began as he un-muted the TV. Red motioned Kitty to the story on TV.

"Kelso's friend called him and told him around the area they lost track of these guys. Eric's jeep was found abandoned abut 10 miles up from where they lost them. "Red explained, as Kitty's face went pale. She turned back to Red, tears beginning to form in her eyes "Wasn't Eric planning on going hiking for the summer?" she asked as Red got up and sat down beside her. Red nodded as he took Kitty in his arms. "Oh my God Red. Eric could actually be in true danger" she said, sobbing into Red's shoulder. Red nodded as a small tear formed in his eye. Quickly wiping it before anyone could see, he looked down at Kitty. 'Kitty. Eric is a smart boy. He learned to defend himself when he was in Africa. Heck he could outsmart any thug" he said, as he saw a smile cross her lips. "Plus" he began "Eric has my war knife from Korea. If it turns up without him, or turns up in a body that not him, we'll know he's fine" Red said, with a huge smile. Kitty put her head back on Red's shoulder. "Oh I guess there wouldn't be much we could do anyway" she said, changing the channel.

_Jackie and Eric have shared a deep kiss, but did it lead to more? What is the idea Hyde may be formulating? Will any clues wash ashore?  
_

_Stay tuned for the next update. and Please review _


	9. Chapter 9: A Box

_Eric and Jackie may have got their answers, but did they advance too quickly? The guys get a surprise when they are asked to come to a scene, and Red and Kitty are in for a surprise contact from someone very close to them. _

**Chapter 9: A box**

Eric and Jackie's Campsite June 22nd.

"Oh god" Jackie thought, as she woke up. She could tell she was in a sleeping bag, but she felt something warm in front of her. Looking down, she saw her clothes were a mess. Looking over, she saw Eric and she noticed some pillows under his shoulder. Glancing further at him, she found him wearing nothing but his underwear and the various bandages that covered his battle wounds. She found herself in a spooning position, curled up tight with Eric. Her upper legs felt as though they had been damp, but had attempted to dry. "What the.." she began to think, but stopped as she realized what she thought had happened "Shit" she said to herself, "I didn't pack any prevention with me" she said to herself, as she slid out of the bag. "Calm down Jackie, you did pack a test" she thought, as she glanced around for her spare. Finding her pants and shirt, Jackie quickly changed her clothes, wrapping her messed up clothes in a ball and walked towards her bag.

"I've got about a week, so I won't worry till then" She thought, as she packed her stuff. "Man we have been in the same place for 2 nights now. " She said, looking out over the river. "Let me pack our stuff in the boat, then I'll make breakfast" Jackie thought to herself, as she picked up Eric's clothes from around the fire. Smirking at him sleeping, she set out a fresh set of clothes for him to change into.

She found his bag and attempted to pack it. When she opened it, a small box tumbled out, landing on her knee. Jackie gasped as she picked up the box. It was the size of a ring box. 'Why would Eric bring this with him?" she wondered as she looked at the box. Deciding to not risk Eric waking up and seeing her looking at the box, Jackie tossed the box back into Eric's bag and packed his clothes. When she was finished, she tossed his bag into the canoe. Turning back towards the campsite, she decided to make a different breakfast, as she grabbed some special meat out of her bag. She turned and walked back to the tent. With a snicker, she started on breakfast.

"Oh goodness" Eric said, waking up and feeling cold air on his chest. Opening his eyes, he looked down, only to find himself lying alone in a sleeping bag, wearing nothing but his underwear. 'Oh god did we do what I think we did last night?" Eric wondered as he Frantically looked around for his bag. Scanning the area, Eric spotted a pile of clothes for him. Smelling something cooking, he assumed it was Jackie who had left them out when she packed. He got dressed and turned towards the tent. "Good Morning" Jackie greeted him with a smile, as she handed him a bowl of food. "Thank you" he said, sitting down next to Jackie. As he ate, he looked at Jackie out of the corner of his eye. 'Why is she so calm, if we did what I think we did last night?" Eric wondered, as he continued eating.

About 55 miles upstream 

"Man I'm glad you guys are here" Harry said, as Hyde, Fez and Kelso approached him. "Ya we got your call. What did you want to show us?" Kelso asked. Harry motioned them to follow him, as he walked down a path that led to the river. The men followed, as they were wondering what could be down there that they needed to see. When they reached the bottom, of the path, they were hit with the smell of dead bodies. Harry walked over to one of them and rolled him to his side, showing the men the printing on the back. "So he is one of the escaped convicts?" Fez asked. Harry nodded. "But that isn't why I brought you out here. It is more for what appears to have happened" Harry said, as he motioned them to follow him through the dead bodies.

"What do you mean man?" Hyde asked as they walked. "Well we think your friend may have actually encountered these guys" He said, as he stopped over one of the bodies. "What makes you think that?" Kelso asked. "Many reasons" Harry said, bending over to pull the knife out of one guy. "But mainly this" he said, handing the knife to Hyde. "A knife? How does that prove anything?" Hyde asked. "Flip the knife over and read who's knife it is" Harry said. Hyde flipped the knife over, searching for a name. Wiping a smidge of blood away, The 3 men read the knife. "Reginald Forman, Point Place, Wisconsin". "Wait is that Red's war knife?" Kelso asked. "Appears so" Hyde said. "I know Eric never gave this back to Red when he got back from Africa" Hyde said a smile crossing his face.

"That's not the only thing we found interesting" Harry said, motioning the men to a body that appeared to be a woman. "This one has a bullet to the head, and judging from the angle, it was shot using a hunting rifle from quite a distance" Harry said. Pointing to the final body, "And this one seems to have numerous bruising to his head and torso and looks to have scratches on his arm. " He said, lifting up the arm. Hyde and Kelso examined the arm. That looks like a girl fighting back" Hyde whispered to Kelso. "Hey guys, I think Harry might be right" Fez said from a nearby body. Hyde and Kelso hurried over.

"Why Fez?' they asked. Fez lifted up the body, pointing to the shoulder of the body. "Eric had his named engraved into the barrel of his guns" Fez said, Kelso and Hyde nodding. As they looked at the bruise on the man's uncovered shoulder, they could slightly make out "Eric Forman" and the gun type. "So are you telling me that Eric took out an entire gang of those thugs you were looking for." Hyde asked Harry. "It appears so, there are two missing, but they were minor players. We have articles of their clothing that have washed ashore and we have a couple of teams on foot going down river to see if they can find any evidence. " Harry replied. "So how are you going to report this? Are you going to criminalize Eric?" Kelso asked. "Well these are escaped convicts. Assuming you guys take the knife with you, the only evidence we have pointing to Eric is the bruise on the shoulder. But with the track record of these guys, I'm thinking I'm probably going to chalk it up to self-defense. If these guys jumped Eric, or if Eric had another with him any of them, and were killed in the process, the law states that Eric would be alright because he had imminent danger to his life. I'll get that bruise with the name to disappear if you guys keep the knife. I really don't want the media getting ahold of this and trying to ruin Eric. They might also try making him a hero, which we don't want either as that will bring way too much attention to him. And judging by the wounds, it seems like Eric hates being the center of it all" Harry said.

The 3 men agreed and walked back to Hyde's El Camino, Fez hiding the knife under his jacket. Hyde started the car and sped away. As the car sped away, Fez pulled the knife from his jacket. "Do you guys think Eric really took them down for his own safety?" Fez asked. Hyde shook his head. "No man, he was doing it for someone else I think" Hyde said as Kelso shot him a curious look. "Forman I don't think would have killed them for simply jumping him. But if there was someone else that they attacked, Forman wouldn't think twice about making them pay for hurting someone else". Hyde finished. Fez nodded. "That makes a lot of sense" Kelso said. 'But who else would be out in this part that Eric would fight for?' The men asked as the car roared towards Helena.

Point Place

"Ok thanks for the update Steven" Red said, hanging up the phone. "What update" Kitty asked, as Red approached the table. "Looks like my hunch was right" Red began. "Steven called and said that about 8 bodies washed ashore about 20 miles from Eric's car. Well the police have already identified all of them as members of the gang that had escaped from prison and their accomplices" he said, as Kitty looked intrigued "In the chest of the man they identified as the leader, Steven said they found my war knife dug in so far, there was blood on the handle. Steven says the cops had them take the knife to remove any trace of Eric doing it and are chalking it up to self-defense by a hiker. They said there was evidence of a struggle and Eric even left a bruise of a gun barrel on one of the guys shoulders. There are 2 more new guys to that gang that they have sent ground teams both directions to see if they can find the bodies and find where it all happened. But it seems like they know Eric single handily took 'em out " Red finished as a confused smile crossed Kitty's mouth.  
"But that doesn't sound like Eric" Kitty began "Eric wouldn't kill someone to save himself, he would have tricked them to save himself" Kitty finished as she looked at Red. Red had sat back in his chair. 'You know, you're right Kitty" Red began "Eric doesn't do anything for his own being. There had to be something else involved." Red said, looking out the kitchen window "But who?" Kitty asked. Both of them shrugged and Kitty got up form the table and went back into the living room, leaving Red to think about what his son might have been fighting for.  
Red could have sat there the rest of the day, but found him self brought out of his thoughts by a distant ringing of the phone. 'Oh geez who now" he asked as he got up and walked over the phone. "Hello?" he said, leaning up against the wall. "Daddy?" said a female voice on the other end. Red nearly dropped the phone. 'Laurie?" Red asked as Kitty came back into the kitchen at the mention of her daughter's name. "Yes daddy, it is me" Laurie replied. Red moved the phone to where both he and Kitty could hear. "Laurie where have you been?" Red asked. "Well, it's been a little crazy. I've been everywhere. I actually got a job as an independent film actress n New York and I've filmed all over the place. Then I decided I wanted to try writing my own movie, so I've been going places trying to find a setting that gives me an idea for a story." Laurie said as Kitty and Red looked at each other, thoroughly surprised at their daughters dialed down life. "So where are you now?" Kitty asked "Well right now I am actually in an Amtrak station in Chicago. I'm on my way towards Seattle with a couple stops in Havre, Whitefish, and Glacier Park. I plan to get off at those stops and spend a day or two seeing if I get an idea for a story from what I see" Laurie said. "Stay safe" Kitty said, as Red looked surprised. "Yes, stay safe kitten. Call me when you get to Havre" Red said. "Will do Daddy. Give Mom a hug and kiss for me" Laurie said, hanging up the phone soon after. Turning, Red hung up the phone. 'I guess we succeeded as parents after all' Red thought as he turned and went through the swinging door.

Floating on the Missouri, Montana 4:45PM

Except for the occasional navigational or lunch question, Eric and Jackie had spent most of the day in an awkward silence. Eric's mind was wandering as he heard the soft swishing sound of the paddles hitting the water. 'How could I let myself get so caught up, I would allow it all to move way too fast?" Eric wondered, as he shifted his gaze slightly to the left to avoid looking at Jackie. Jackie was busy trying to not look at Eric. 'How could I have let myself do that?' Jackie wondered, as she could hear the swish of the paddle. 'I know he's the one for me, but why did I let it all move too fast?" she wondered, shifting her weight to relieve the ache in her foot. 'What if by moving too fast, I've blown any chance we may have had" Jackie thought, as she looked straight ahead. Feeling her stomach growl, Jackie knew she had to talk to Eric. "Ok Eric, why don't we stop a little ways up here? I see a little area up in there we could stay" Jackie asked without turning around. Eric snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the question. "Sounds good" he said, as he looked ahead at the spot. 'Ok. Jackie and I should really talk about this' Eric thought, as he and Jackie pulled into shore. Hopping out of the canoe, Jackie went waist deep into the water, pushing the canoe into the shore with her one good shoulder, as Eric pulled from the front. 'Ok. I really don't want to lose a chance with Eric. But how do I get him to talk about it?' she thought, as she grabbed her bag and carried it up the shore. 'I think I need to somehow do it tonight over dinner' Jackie thought, as she walked back down to the boat to finish unloading stuff. As they unloaded the last few bags, Eric looked up at the same time Jackie looked up. Locking eyes, both knew that they needed to clear the air.

_Looks like Jackie and Eric may have messed up going too quick. The rest of the gang knows Eric was fighting for more than himself, but will they find out who he was fighting for? Stay tuned_


	10. Chapter 10: Rough Waters

_Eric and Jackie are in an awkward situation. Will cooler head prevail, or will the awkwardness prove too much?_

**Chapter 10: Rough Waters**

The campsite 9PM

Eric and Jackie both sat around the campfire, but unlike all the other times, they at on separate logs on opposite sides of the fire. 'God this whole day has been really awkward' Eric thought as he and Jackie continued to sit in an awkward silence. Jackie had attempted to start a conversation at dinner, but neither of them could sustain any sort of conversation. It had become obvious to both of them, they had the possibility of getting something good going, and it only took them 6 days to ruin it. Taking a deep breath, 'Look we need to talk about this" Eric began, as Jackie nodded. "Look we went way too fast with all of this. Heck a week ago, we hadn't seen each other in years. "Eric said, as Jackie moved her log around the fire, so she could hear Eric better. "Now all of the sudden, we're doing what we did in the middle of nowhere" Eric said, looking at Jackie. Jackie nodded, 'And worse of all, I don't have any birth control with me" She said. Eric froze when she said this, as the realization of what it could mean set in. "I'm not due for another few days, so if I'm late, I'll run a test" Jackie finished as Eric stared into the fire. 7 days ago, he had been out here enjoying his time around here being all by himself. Now he was faced with the possibility that he may have knocked up Jackie Burkhart. Looking back at Jackie, "So what do we do from here?" he asked, as Jackie looked back at him. "I don't know' she said, tears in her eyes. Eric shook his head, "Look Jackie that isn't going to work for me. I need more than that" Eric said standing up. "Well what more do you want?" she asked in an angry tone, any sign of tears were gone. "Do you want me to throw away all my things and give you all the answers you want to hear" she said as she picked up a small piece of wood and threw it in the fire. "You know what?"Eric shot back. "Maybe I need some time to myself to figure it out" Eric yelled as he gathered up all of his stuff. "Fine" Jackie angrily shot back, 'But you don't get my boat to use" She said locking eyes with Eric. As he became more frustrated, Eric's face flushed red, "Fine" he shot back 'I don't need your damn boat, I'm efficient on my feet" He said, reaching down and picking up his bag. "Hell I walked 10 miles that day before I heard you scream" Eric said as he stepped away from the fire. "Before I rescued your ass. " Eric said beginning to walk off, he zipped the zipper on his bag. 'And I'm beginning to think saving you was a major mistake on my part. Goodbye Jackie" Eric said, as he stormed off into the woods and out of sight., leaving Jackie alone by the fire.

"Oh my god" Jackie cried as she slumped back onto her log near the fire. As she gazed at the fire, she felt rage welling up inside of her. But it wasn't a rage at Eric, it was a rage towards life. 'Damn now I'm out here with a shoulder that still hurts everyday, that doesn't have the same strength. Now there is a possibility I'm carrying the baby of someone who thinks rescuing me was his biggest mistake" she thought as she placed her head in her hands and sobbed.

Helena, MT 10PM

"Ok thanks Harry" Kelso said, hanging up the phone. Turning back towards Hyde and Fez, Kelso took a breath, trying to figure out how to word the update. "They found what appears to be Eric's campsite. They found some rotted fish and what appears to be Eric's boat, overturned on the shore and apparently undisturbed for almost a week. They said none of his stuff was there, and there were some faded tracks, but they disappeared about 50 ft out from the campsite" Kelso finished as Hyde grabbed his map. Pointing to his red circle, 'Was it found within here?" Hyde asked. Kelso looked at the notes he took and nodded. 'Ok then, we gotta figure this out then guys' Hyde said, as Kelso and Fez looked at the map, nodding.

Somewhere in the woods

"Just keep walking" Eric said to himself, as he attempted to climb a steep incline. About halfway up, Eric was beginning to falter slightly. Pushing through it, Eric made it to the top. Setting down his bags, Eric looked towards the sky and took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down. He had gotten so mad when he stormed off, he wasn't even paying attention which way he was going, he just knew he had to get away from Jackie. Looking around, Eric found enough brush and small pieces of wood to make a small campfire. Sitting down in front of the fire, he couldn't help but think about what just took place with Jackie. Putting his chin in his hands, Eric's mind raced about why it had all happened, especially why he had snapped at her so easily. Eric felt uneasy as he thought about how fast he snapped. The last time he snapped at someone that fast, was years ago back when he was in Africa.

Eric had been taking some time to teach grades 11 and 12 to get some experience teaching students who were older than 14. Eric had enjoyed teaching the high school kids even more than he enjoyed teaching the elementary kids. But there was one 12th grader that had gotten on his nerves. By this time, Eric had worked out and was pretty bulked up himself. But this kid was easily 400 pounds with 300 of it being pure muscle. He was his towns golden child and he never let anyone forget it. Eric could have cared less, except for the day the kid tried cornering him after receiving a less than stellar mark on a test. Eric thought he had gotten through that all the kid had to do was redo one answer and he would change the grade. But in the weeks that followed, that kid wouldn't stop nipping at Eric. One day, Eric got so frustrated a fed up with it, that he humiliated the kid in front of the entire town. Eric transferred to a different school over 400 miles away the next day.

'God damn' Eric said as he continued gazing at his smaller fire 'I snapped again with Hyde in '82" Eric finished as he put his head I his hands at the memory of that falling out with Hyde. Eric could remember yelling at Hyde about getting off his back, but doing it in such a way that it felt like he had humiliated Hyde. "Oh crap" Eric said as he picked his head and gazed at the fire.

Jackie's Campsite. June 24th

Jackie was sitting next to the fire, but she wasn't crying anymore. 'This is exactly what is was afraid of" she said, throwing her torn shirt towards the fire. As Jackie looked back, she could see her Daisy 2 test still working. She was hoping against hope that by a stroke of luck, she wouldn't be pregnant. 'Oh but he was so good I melted' Jackie said, sounding disgusted. "Why do I keep doing this to myself? I keep falling for the wrong guys, telling myself that they are really what I'm looking for, and then in Denver I couldn't even find anyone worth while. "She said, throwing another shirt towards the fire. 'If he thought it would be such a mistake, then why did he still rescue you though?" Jackie thought, as she sat on the log, turning her back to the test. 'No guy just saves a girl in distress like that. And they don't hang out with them unless there is more going on.' She thought, as she checked her watch. It had been almost an hour since she started the test. Turning back around, she picked up the test. Jackie took a deep breath as she looked at it.

South approximately 4 miles

Eric was sitting around his fire, fiercely writing away on his notepad. Eric finished the note and placed it in an envelope, addressed to Hyde. Eric had realized he was partially the bad guy in the falling out and figured it was now or never to try patching things up with Hyde. As Eric turned to place the envelope in his bag, a small black object caught Eric's eye. Taking it out, Eric looked at the box. Opening it up, he fought back the memory he had with that ring. This was a ring Eric had bought on his way back from Africa, and he had intended to give it to a very special person in his life. But when he got home, that person wasn't who had expected they would be. So when he left in 1982, Eric took this ring with him, so no one would know he ever had it. But as he lived out here by himself, he couldn't help but feel as though the ring symbolized failure. Eric had never found anyone who he genuinely liked, so he figured that he would have no use for the ring. When he left for his summer vacation, Eric had packed this with the hope of getting out to the middle of nowhere and just disposing of it. 'I guess I could still get rid of it', Eric thought as he stood up and looked out towards the river. Eric took the ring out of the box and threw the box back in his bag. Turning back towards the river, Eric wound up, preparing to throw the ring.

_Stay tuned for the next update_


	11. Chapter 11:A Golden Moment

_Eric and Jackie had reached a standstill, as neither advanced their campsite for over a week. And the men in Helena were still guessing at where to look. The events since the arguments would get them thinking. And Laurie is in Montana too, but will she find out about the story?_

**Chapter 11: A Golden Moment**

Jackie's campsite July 1st

"This sucks" Jackie said, setting down her plate. Reaching into the medical bag, she pulled out another set of wrapping. After the battle with Eric, Jackie had gone out to get firewood and food. But in the process, she tripped and landed on her bad shoulder that was still in the sling, re-dislocating it. She was able to pop it back in, but it was still pretty swollen as Jackie re-wrapped it before replacing it in the sling. "Man I wish Eric knew the news" Jackie said, looking towards the forest. IT had been over a week since Eric and her had that fight, a fight that Jackie had decided she wish she would've handled differently. It had been a week, since Jackie was late for her period. It was then that she had run her Daisy 2 home test, a test that confirmed she was in fact, pregnant. 'I'm excited that I'm going to be a mother, especially considering the father is normally a well-mannered gentleman who had seen some terrible stuff in the years he was gone to Africa' Jackie began the thought, 'But it doesn't mean anything to me if I have a baby without some resemblance of a family. I could raise the baby alone' she thought, adding sugar to whatever she had decided to drink that morning.

Looking across the river, she continued thinking, 'I'm not going to raise the baby without the father somehow being involved. A baby needs their dad' She thought, as she shamefully looked down at her hands, 'But the babies father isn't here because I let things move too quick and didn't handle any of it properly' she thought her gaze rising to look across the river. As she gazed, she noticed a strange mist forming on the river. Looking at the spot where she saw Eric leave, she did notice the faint wisps of smoke everyday, which she assumed was just Eric's campfire. 'I need to patch things up so my baby can have a family, the baby deserves that at least' She thought, as she stood up and packed her bag. Jackie tossed extra gauze and peroxide in bag and stood up, placing the bag around her good shoulder. 'This one is for you dear' She said, looking at her stomach, hoping she was doing the right thing. She was nervous as she reached the edge of her campsite, 'come on, just do it' she said to herself as she took a deep breath and walked into the forest the way Eric had gone when he left.

Great Falls, MT

"Oh goodness" Laurie thought, as she set he luggage on the bed in her motel room. When she got off the train in Havre, she had seen a sign for Great Falls. Since she was little, she had always wanted to see the Great Falls and see some of the scenery around the Missouri River flowing south. So when Laurie spotted the bus station, she didn't think twice but to buy a ticket to Great Falls. "Man I need a Montana Map' she thought, thinking back to the last week. She had actually spent the last week bouncing between motels in Great Falls. Every time she went to see the falls, she would mistakenly forget to ask her stay to be extended so her times at the falls and by the river were short. Then she couldn't figure out the proper way out of town by the river. 'Just my luck, she thought, clearing her luggage off of the bed, and grabbing the television remote. 'Oh god TV here sucks" she said, looking at the guide with disgust. Turning her attention towards the TV, she turned it on. The first station it was tuned to was a local station. 'Huh' Laurie thought, as the stations changed stories. 'And now to the developing story that is catching statewide attention, we turn to Mike smith who is at the scene of where it all caught attention' The news anchor said, peaking Laurie's interest. "That's right" the news reporter began "We all heard about the escaped convicts disappearing in this area, convicts who had kidnapped and murdered multiple hikers just years ago. Then in a shocking turn of events, all but two members of this gang of felons suddenly washed ashore, dead' the reporter said, as the story switched to a summary of when they found the bodies.

'Wow interesting" Laurie thought, as the story shifted back to the reporter. 'Now we are hearing from authorities that it appears as though this gang was killed in a struggle, as they have found bruising consistent with an altercation. There are also unconfirmed reports that a Townsend high school teacher and a former NFL pr agent were in this area, planning on a soul searching summer, leading some to believe that the result the gang met, was just a couple of hikers relying on pure instinct to defend themselves against these criminals. On scene, this is mike back to you in the studio" The report finished, and Laurie turned off the TV. She knew Eric had taken a job as a teacher in Townsend after the falling out with Hyde.

Laurie tapped her chin with her fingers, "When I was on the phone with Daddy in Havre, he did mention that Eric had learned to defend himself and could be out here fighting for someone' Laurie said, as she thought about the report she just watched. 'I wonder if that unconfirmed report of a teacher being out there is really Eric' Laurie thought, as she pulled a notebook out of her page and open to a blank page, "Because if it is Eric, then I may have an idea for story" Laurie said, smiling at the thought of her brother actually being a man. She looked out the window, noticing a strange mist had formed along the river.

Helena, MT

"But what if we just went the wrong direction on this?" Kelso asked as they marked the map. They had spent the last week searching towards the east and had found no trace of Eric or Jackie. "What if Eric was going south? I mean his town is on that river" Fez said, pointing towards Townsend. "That is a possibility Fez" Hyde began, "But let's keep looking up in here. If we don't find him within the next couple of weeks, then we will start checking further south. " Hyde said, Kelso and Fez nodding in agreement.

Eric's campsite 

"Man" Eric thought as he cooked breakfast. He glanced at the river and noticed a fine mist forming as he sat down to eat his breakfast. When he finished, he glanced around his campsite, his gaze settled on the box sitting on the other side of the campfire, That night a week ago, Eric just could not bring himself to throw that ring into the river. 'Why not?" Eric asked himself, setting down his ace wrap and grabbing the box. "Look why couldn't I throw this ring away?" he asked himself, setting the box on the seat next to him, and began working on replacing his bloody gauze and wrapping on his shoulder. He was amazed at the amount of blood that was actually on them. 'How can I bleed this much and still be alive' Eric wondered as he pulled out his last pack of gauze. Wincing at the pain, Eric poured what he had left of peroxide on the cut and wiping it off with a t-shirt, then covered it with a fresh gauze pad. 'Man, why did I do this to myself?" he thought as he reapplied the wrap. 2 days before, Eric had gone out to gather some firewood and find some food to eat, as his food had fallen out in Jackie's canoe. He had cut down enough wood for at least another week, but due to the slight weakness in his wounded shoulder, Eric had needed to make several trips. On his final trip to retrieve the wood, Eric had failed to see a log sitting in his path. Eric had tried to keep his balance by hopping on one foot, failing to see some low hanging branches. As he hopped to regain his balance, one of the low hanging branches had poked thought the bandage and gotten lodged in Eric's bad shoulder, reopening the knife wound from the attack.

'Ya' Eric began, 'An attack I never should have gotten involved in' He thought as he put on a new shirt. Returning to his seat, 'Why did I save Jackie? Or more importantly, why did I stick with her so long and end up falling for her?" he wondered as his gaze returned to the box. Picking up the box and opening it, a flood of thoughts rushed into Eric's head. As he took a deep breath to clear his head, Eric gazed at the ring. It was not a cheap ring by any stretch, and it was custom made, with an engraving that said 'Forever and Always, Love, Eric' on the inside of the band. 'I wonder if somehow, Jackie is the reason I can't seem to throw this ring into the river' he said to himself, taking the ring out of the box, and placing the box in his bag. He focused on the ring, 'I know Jackie and I moved way too fast, and I may have ruined everything when I left her there alone at the campsite' Eric thought to himself, shaking his head. 'If Jackie is pregnant, I'm going to have to do the right thing, I mean I have to do the right thing or else I could live with myself' Eric said himself, a smirk trying to cross his face. 'I probably should see if Jackie is willing to patch things up' Eric thought, sliding the ring into his palm and containing it in fist.

Raising his gaze back towards the river, Eric tapped the side of the fist against his mouth, 'I couldn't live with myself if Jackie and I never work out. And if she is pregnant, I couldn't live with myself to think she would be raising a kid alone" He thought, taking a deep breath. Eric turned towards the river, trying to think when all of the sudden, a sound of a twig snapping brought him out of his thoughts. Eric turned towards the sound, but as he laid eyes on the source, he fist let go of the ring and it dropped in his lap as he sat there shocked with an open mouth. Bringing his wits about him, Eric took a deep breath and secretly slid the ring into his pocket. Standing up, he turned and moved towards the source, still shocked. "Jackie?" he said as he stopped right in front of her. Jackie smiled and dropped her bag in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Eric asked, still stunned that Jackie had walked 4 miles alone, over some pretty tough terrain. Jackie looked at him softly, clearing her throat and mentioning for them to sit. Eric nodded, nervously grabbed her bag and led her to the seat by the fire. As they sat, Eric knew it had to be serious.

"Eric" Jackie began; "We need to patch this up" she finished, taking Eric's hand in hers. 'I agree Jackie" Eric said, closing her hand in his. 'So, look Jackie, I've done some thinking, and I think I may have figured out where we go from here" Eric said as Jackie continued gazing at him. "Look I'm sorry, the way I snapped at you was all my fault and I shouldn't have done it. And being out her, it actually made me afraid that I snapped at you in a way, that you and would end up the way Hyde and ended up' Eric said, his gaze falling to his hands. Looking at Eric, Jackie couldn't help but feel almost bad. 'Look Eric' she began, 'We are not going to end up like you and Hyde did" she said, as Eric raised his gaze to meet hers. 'We really should fix this and should handled it better" she said as he and Eric nodded, breaking their gaze. As they glanced around, they noticed the misty fog had surrounded them. Jackie smiled as she looked at it. They were completely surrounded by misty fog, with blue skies and birds singing above them, and the sunlight trying to break though, illuminating the fog in a golden color. It was as though they were in the middle of a painting of a nature scene. It was a golden moment, and Jackie knew at Eric, Jackie caught a smile cross Eric's face, and seeing this, Jackie decided this was her opportunity. As Eric and Jackie locked gazes again, Jackie took a deep breath hoping she wouldn't blow it. Taking Eric's hand in hers, 'Eric, I have news I need to tell you' she said, as Eric nodded. She took another deep breath, nerves multiplying by the second.

_It's a perfect moment, but can Jackie get through the nerves and tell Eric the news and patch it up?_

_Will Laurie become a major player, and will Hyde and Kelso take Fez's advice?_

_Stay tuned for the next update_


	12. Chapter 12: Flirting With Disaster

_Eric and Jackie are surrounded by a golden fog only seen in movies and paintings. And Laurie makes a surprising decision _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the song 'Flirtin With Disaster'. No Copyright infringement intended_

**Chapter 12: Flirting With Disaster**

Eric's Campsite

Eric could tell Jackie had something serious to say, and he was trying his best to keep a serious composure. But even his nerves were growing by the second, as he quickly glanced around at the golden fog. Eric knew this was the perfect moment for Jackie to tell him anything, and he locked gazes with her, seeing the fear welling in her eyes. Eric noticed this, and enclosed her hands in a comforting way. "What is it Jackie?" Eric began, "Look I don't care what it is, you can tell me the news and I promise I won't freak out" He finished as Jackie smiled and took a deep breath.

Looking into Eric's comforting gaze seemed to give Jackie some courage as she locked eyes with Eric, seeing a hint of fear in his eyes too. "Eric" she began "Don't freak out but the news I have for you is that you, Eric Forman, are going to be a father" she said, as Eric's face went pale. He opened his mouth to try to speak but all that came out was an awkward squeak.

Between Helena and Great Falls

"Where would little brother go from here?" Laurie asked herself as she followed the path down to the river's edge, a rent canoe in her hands over her head. Placing the canoe on the shore, Laurie looked over the river. 'I bet he went south" Laurie thought, climbing into her canoe and pushing off the shore. Laurie had decided no matter what she found out, this would make a great story.

Helena, MT

"I'm telling you Hyde" Kelso pleaded, point to the map, "Fez is on to something, the only way Forman could have gone was south. It's the only direction that is all water. If he went any other way, he would have left a trail of some sort" Kelso finished, still pointing at the map. Hyde, however, was still completely unconvinced. "Ya man. But Forman went on a soul-searching trip, and you can't do that on a river man" Hyde studying the map.

"Look Hyde" Fez began. "We have searched East, West, and north. Now the only place to go is south. Unless we go south, we may never find Eric until he decides to turn up" Fez said, casting Hyde a don't screw with me look that wasn't lost on Hyde. Hyde took off his glasses and threw them on the table. "Ok so we may know which way he went. But it's still not answering the question of who Forman is fighting for out there. We know it's not just him out there, but we have no other leads yet" he said taking a seat across the table from Kelso and Fez.

"What if Fez might be on the right track that Jackie has something to do with this?" Kelso asked as Hyde glanced towards him. " I mean the last reported sighting of Jackie was here in Helena, but she was planning on disappearing into the mountains as well. And one of those bodies did have scratch marks as though a woman had reached up to try grabbing a hold of skin" Kelso said, as Hyde nodded. "But why would Forman protect Jackie though man? He said it himself that he would rather die than save Jackie." Hyde said, putting his feet up on the table. "What if he did die, or come damn close to it to save Jackie?" Kelso thought, ruffling through his notes, "That would explain why Forman used his Dad's knife. He promised to only use that knife if his life absolutely depended on it. So what if Forman saved Jackie, without realizing it was Jackie?" Kelso said, as Hyde and Fez looked at each other nodding. "Ok we need to make a plan" Hyde said.

Eric's campsite 6:30PM

"You able to talk yet?" Jackie asked as she set a bowl of trout down next to Eric. Eric glanced up and smiled. Jackie noticed the smile and smiled back. "I 'm getting kind of worried about you. I mean ive known you for years now, and I have never heard you be this quiet" She said, watching Eric quickly devour his meal. Setting down his bowl, Eric turned to face her, taking her hand good hand in his. "Well Jackie, It was all a surprise. I mean I'm going to be a father. I can't imagine how scary this all is for you." He said, locking eyes with Jackie.

Jackie agreed, he really didn't realize how scared she really was about all of this, but she was determined to not let it show how much it scared her. "So what now?" Jackie asked. "Well, I was going to save this for another time" Eric began as he slid the ring out of his pocket. " I feel like I have a responsibility to be there not only for the baby, but also for you too. I can't get down on one knee, but here I have a ring I bought on my way back from Africa for someone special in the future. I promised myself I wouldn't give anyone this ring unless I cared for them deeply." He said, as a happy tear showed in Jackie's eyes. "Jacqueline Beulah Burkhart, will you be Mrs. Eric Forman?" Eric asked as he handed the ring.

"Oh my god this is a gorgeous ring" Jackie thought to herself as she examined the ring. She noticed the engraving, 'For the love of my life, I love you now and forever. Love Eric Forman" she stifled a snicker as she couldn't help but stare at the high quality of diamonds that were on this ring. 'Eric is not joking on this ring' Jackie thought as she turned her gaze back to Eric. 'Eric Albert Forman, would you be willing to become Mr. Eric Albert Forman-Burkhart?' she asked, as Eric looked in surprise

"That has a nice jingle doesn't it?" Eric said, as he and Jackie both snickered. Turning serious, Eric locked eyes with Jackie, "Jackie, I would gladly become Mr. Eric Albert Forman-Burkhart" He said, landing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Ok Eric, my answer is a big yes!" Jackie said as she excited allowed Eric to slide the ring on her finger. Turning back to her, Eric smirked. "Do you know what we are doing here?" he asked, as he grabbed his cassette player out of his bag.  
"Speeding down the fast lane?" Jackie suggested as Eric loaded the tape, fast-forwarding it to a spot. Turning while snickering, Eric looked at Jackie. "That's part true. But I say lets let the tape finish the sentence" He said pressing the play button

The cassette player boomed out:

**I've got the pedal to the floor, our lives are runnin' faster  
We got our sights set straight ahead, but I ain't sure what we're after Flirtin' with disaster, y'all damn sure know what I meant **

Jackie couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the song, as Eric sat down next to her, taking her hand in his and crashing his lips into hers.

_Eric and Jackie are now engaged, but is fate planning for rough tides ahead. And will Laurie find herself in a heap of trouble?_

_Stay tuned. _

_Sorry i know this was short, but i'm mapping out the rest of the story and its probable sequel_


	13. Chapter 13: Fateful 4th

_It's the 4th of July of '85. Jackie and Eric are planning something special to celebrate their first 4th as a couple. But a strange twist of fate will bring another complication. _

**Chapter 13: Fateful 4th**

Missouri River July 4th, 1985

"Man I hate being alone on the 4th of July" Laurie thought, as she continued paddling down the Missouri. She had covered about 40 miles over the last few days, on account she had only slept for 4 hours since she left. As Laurie looke dup towards the sky, she noticed it was turning dark. 'Man I wish I had some fireworks' she thought as she paddled faster, hoping to find a place to rest for the night. Laurie glanced at her notepad, which was full of different notes and story ideas. But she had settled on a more romantically inclined one. 'Man now I need to find some substance that might actually stick' Laurie thought, as she continued paddling, when a pair of voices arose nearby, catching her attention. Looking around, Laurie didn't see a campfire, and began to wonder if she was just hearing things. Shaking her head, Laurie kept paddling, hoping there was something somewhere where she could stop for the night. Suddenly Laurie heard what appeared to be a splash in the water behind her. But tonight there was a strange fog lifting off the water with no moon to reflect the fog. Laurie turned to try seeing if she could see anything that might have made that noise, but didn't see anything. Laurie attempted to paddle faster, but exhaustion was beginning to set in as Laurie struggled to paddle. Suddenly Laurie felt something grab her paddle on her right side. Glancing up, Laurie spotted the tips of a campfire, and before she knew it, she let out a screech as she was yanked from her canoe.

Eric and Jackie's campsite 9pm

"Here you go" Eric said, handing Jackie a bowl of rabbit and berries. Eric sat down next to Jackie and couldn't help but smile as he watched her eat. Just a few weeks ago, Eric couldn't have imagined that he would be sitting by a fire, engaged to none other than Jackie Burkhart.

Jackie had noticed Eric watching her, but didn't mind. 'I'm having the best time of my life out here' Jackie thought as she set her bowl down. She tried moving her bad shoulder, but she had noticed the swelling had gotten worse instead of better. As she went to adjust her shoulder, she let out a slight groan at the pain. She tried not showing the pain, as she could see the worry on Eric's face every time she groaned. As she groaned, she saw Eric get up and then she felt his hand on her shoulder, feeling the swelling and trying to figure out how to get it to go down without any ice.

"Here let's try this" Eric said, grabbing some ace wrap from the medical bag. "Jackie, I'm going to try wrapping your shoulder with this, to force some of the swelling out of the shoulder so it can actually heal" Eric said as he opened the ace wrap with his teeth. Jackie nodded as she felt Eric take off her sling. "What do I do if the pain hurts really bad?" She asked as Eric slid her arm out of the sleeve and began wrapping it. "Just let me know" Eric said, tightly wrapping her shoulder. As he worked, Jackie couldn't help but smile.

'How did I go from no future, to engaged to the sweetest man in the world, packaged as a small town high school teacher.." Jackie wondered as she felt Eric tighten the ace wrapping on her shoulder. When he finished, he placed her arm back in the sling and refitted the sling to keep her arm in place. As Eric stood up and replaced the scissors and tape into the medical bag, Jackie noticed a thin fog hanging over the surface of the lake, reflected only by the faint light from the campfire.

"Well what oh what could two newly engaged people do in the back country to celebrate the 4th of July?" Eric asked, as Jackie nuzzled her head under his chin.

"Oh I don't know, what would you think?" Jackie asked, looking up at Eric. "Well I've got a small supply of fireworks stashed away that we could let off" Eric began as Jackie smirked, "Or, I could stoke this fire a bit better and we can brand our names into a piece of wood" Eric said, as Jackie sat up.

"Why can't we just do both?" she asked as she used her foot to herd more wood towards the fire. "Because, if we did both, then what romantic thing would we do for labor day" Eric said with a smirk and a wink. Jackie noticed the wink and couldn't contain her laughter. Eric looked back at her, from where he was grabbing his small stash of fireworks, with a look of admiration. 'Here's a girl' he began, "Who has been through hell and back, and who I remember not getting along with the best in high school. Yet now, I've fallen in love with her, and I'm engaged to her' Eric thought as he stood up and walked back to the fire. "You know, you are so lucky my shoulder only has to be bandaged" Eric said jokingly as he sat down next to Jackie. As she caught his joke, she looked back at him, 'Ya with out that shoulder, who would make me breakfast or fix my hair in the morning?" Jackie said, as a smile appeared on Eric's face. 'And' she began 'I never thought after what you were like when the fallout in Point Place happened, that I would get to see the kind, smooth, funny Eric that I always used to know' She said, as she rested her head on Eric's good shoulder. "You know" he began, "We could do both activities, as it would give us twice the memories" he said with a grin, as Jackie sat back up. 'I agree. But what do we do first?" she asked as Eric glanced between the fireworks and the wood. 'Hmm' he began to say, but was cut off by a scream in the distance. "What the hell?" Jackie asked, as she glanced around. It was a scream that the two of them had only heard from one person. As their eyes locked, it both hit them. "Laurie!" They both exclaimed, scrambling to their feet. Jackie grabbed a flashlight and lantern, while Eric grabbed his knife and guns and they headed north towards the area where they heard the scream, both hoping they weren't too late.

_Do Eric and Jackie rescue Laurie, or do they find themselves back in harms way? Will Hyde and the gang ever find out what is taking place? _

_Stay Tuned_

_It was decided as this chapter was written that there WILL be a sequel. That is still in planning as it how far this story story will go._


End file.
